> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://democracy-distributed.gitbook.io/democracy-distributed-docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://democracy-distributed.gitbook.io/democracy-distributed-docs/what-is-dd.md). # What is Democracy Distributed? > **In one sentence:** DD helps people see how the groups that shape their lives, from city hall to their workplace, actually make decisions and spend money, and gives them a way to work together to change what isn't working. ## The idea Democracy Distributed (DD) is one shared way of recording how any group runs: its **decisions, rules, money, people, and projects**. It works the same whether the group is a city government, your neighbourhood association, your workplace, or a project with friends. That one model does two jobs at once: * **See how any organization works.** Search for a city council, an agency, or a community group, and land on a single page that shows how it runs and how its pieces connect. * **Run your own group.** New and existing groups can use the same tools to decide, spend, and report together, and to find people who can help with their goals. ## The problem ### It feels distant What happens in government, and in most large organizations, feels far away. The information is scattered across meeting minutes, budgets, contracts, and websites, and the system itself is complicated. So most people disengage and follow along, at most, through the news. Underneath that distance is a simpler problem: **it's hard to understand how it all works.** * What are all these departments, and what are they meant to do? * What laws and rules bind them? * Are they doing what they're bound to do? * And what if the rules themselves are wrong, and ought to change? ### Stories disappear When an issue stops being covered in the news, it usually drops out of sight. Nobody knows what happened next: whether the promise was kept, the money spent, or the project finished. ### Understanding alone isn't enough Even when people do understand an issue, there's rarely a way to build on that understanding **together**: to pool what everyone knows, find others who care about the same thing, and join forces so the outcomes we want actually happen. ## How DD responds DD aims to give every organization the same structure, so how things work becomes visible and comparable: * **One page per organization**, showing its money, decisions, rules, people, and projects in one place. * **The chain of accountability**, which links each step: an idea, the decision, the rule it follows, the project, the money. You can see the whole process, point to one exact step, move back and forth along it, and find the people involved at each step. → [The chain of accountability](/democracy-distributed-docs/understand/chain-of-accountability.md) * **People doing the work together.** The information official sources leave out is filled in by contributors, who meet others with the same interests along the way. ## Three products, one data model | Product | Purpose | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | [**WikiGov**](/democracy-distributed-docs/understand/wikigov.md) | **Understand together.** A public, Wikipedia-style record of how governments work: their money, decisions, rules, and projects, meant to be built up collectively. | | [**POD**](https://github.com/democracydistributed/docs/tree/main/docs/understand/pod.md) (People Organized Digitally) | **Organize your own world.** The same principles applied to your group, workplace, or project, and even your personal finances. | | [**The Contributor Network**](/democracy-distributed-docs/understand/contributor-network.md) | **Act together.** The microtask layer, where people fill gaps, verify facts, and connect with others who share their interests while doing the work. | ## Who we're building for DD is an early, open effort. We're building it in the hope that these people will find it useful, and that together it can make the impact it's meant to. | Who | What DD could give them | Start at | | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Curious residents** | A way to see how their city actually works, all in one place | [WikiGov](/democracy-distributed-docs/understand/wikigov.md) | | **Journalists** | A page readers can keep following after the story leaves the headlines | [WikiGov](/democracy-distributed-docs/understand/wikigov.md) | | **Advocates and researchers** | The full chain behind a decision, with sources, and the people involved at each step | [The chain of accountability](/democracy-distributed-docs/understand/chain-of-accountability.md) | | **Community groups** | A way to run decisions and money in the open, and find people to help | [POD](https://github.com/democracydistributed/docs/tree/main/docs/understand/pod.md) | | **Members and employees** | A clear view of who decided what, who asked for it, and what rules apply | [POD](https://github.com/democracydistributed/docs/tree/main/docs/understand/pod.md) | | **Contributors** | Small, meaningful tasks on the issues they care about, and others who share their interests | [The Contributor Network](/democracy-distributed-docs/understand/contributor-network.md) | | **Project volunteers** | A real role on DD's own teams (research, design, marketing, data and more), with experience they can point to | [Get involved](https://github.com/democracydistributed/docs/tree/main/docs/contribute/get-involved.md) | If you're one of these people, [tell us](https://github.com/democracydistributed/docs/tree/main/docs/contribute/get-involved.md#get-in-touch) what you'd need. That's how we'll find out what's right and what's wrong. ## DD runs on DD DD aims to be a self-governing project, running its own teams, decisions, and money in the open, the same way it asks every organization to. Volunteers join a team, such as Data & Research, User Research, Design, or Marketing, and the project is organized on its own platform as the tools come online. → [Get involved](https://github.com/democracydistributed/docs/tree/main/docs/contribute/get-involved.md) ## Principles * **Honest data.** Every number should have a source. When something is unknown, we show the gap instead of guessing. * **Open.** Free to read, open to contribute, with a public edit history. * **Non-partisan.** DD is about how things work and what happened. It doesn't campaign. ## Where to go next | I want to… | Go to | | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | See how the chain works | [The chain of accountability](/democracy-distributed-docs/understand/chain-of-accountability.md) | | Explore government data | [WikiGov](/democracy-distributed-docs/understand/wikigov.md) | | Run my own group | [POD](https://github.com/democracydistributed/docs/tree/main/docs/understand/pod.md) | | Help build DD | [Get involved](https://github.com/democracydistributed/docs/tree/main/docs/contribute/get-involved.md) | | Use the data | [API reference](/democracy-distributed-docs/build/api-reference.md) |