> 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/understand/wikigov.md).

# WikiGov

WikiGov is DD's public record of how governments work: their structure, rules, decisions, money, and people, and how it all connects. Like Wikipedia, it's free to read and meant to be built and kept alive by the people who use it.

Its purpose is **collective understanding**: making government feel less distant by working out, together, how it actually works.

**Status:** early, and live for the City of Toronto at [democracydistributed.com](https://democracydistributed.com).

## Built together

WikiGov isn't meant to be a page you visit once and admire. It's meant to be a place you come back to, because it's tied to the things you care about and the people who care about them too.

* **Follow what matters to you:** a decision, a project in your neighbourhood, a department, an issue. Keep coming back as it moves.
* **Add what you know.** Official sources leave gaps, especially between a decision and what it actually produced. A small piece from you, like a link, a correction, or a photo of a construction site, fills one in.
* **Meet the people on the same step.** The aim is that everyone who's looked into the same vote, project, or payment becomes someone you can talk to, compare notes with, and act with.

WikiGov starts from official open data, such as financial statements, council records, and procurement records, and builds on the work of other civic projects like Canada Spends and Civic Dashboard. Everything beyond that is meant to come from people, through the [Contributor Network](/democracy-distributed-docs/understand/contributor-network.md).

The goal is for every figure to link back to its source.

## What it's for

WikiGov aims to help anyone answer questions like:

* What departments and agencies make up my city, and what are they meant to do?
* What rules and by-laws bind them?
* What did council decide, and what happened after?
* Where does the money come from, and where does it go?
* Who holds which role, and who's responsible for what?
* And how is it all connected: which rule led to which decision, which decision moved which money, and who was involved at each step?

## The organization page

Every government body is meant to get one page, findable by searching its name. Each page brings together:

| Tab          | Shows                                                                      |
| ------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Finances** | Where the money comes from and where it goes, as an interactive flow chart |
| **Items**    | Decisions: motions, reports, and approvals                                 |
| **Projects** | Work those decisions set in motion, and its status                         |
| **People**   | Who holds which role, including roles where the holder isn't recorded yet  |

Departments and agencies are organizations in their own right, sitting inside the city, and are meant to get their own pages too.

## Follow a story

When a news story moves on, the decision behind it doesn't stop. WikiGov aims to give every decision a lasting page that anyone can come back to, so a journalist can link to it and readers can keep following the vote, the money, and the outcome long after the headlines.

## Follow the money

On the Finances tab, you can click a category to see what's inside it, then click a payment to open the **trace panel**. The trace panel shows the chain behind it, as far as it's been connected: the decision, the vote, and the project.

Planned: where a budget exists, showing planned amounts next to actual spending, so you can see how much of what was promised has happened.

**Next:** [POD →](/democracy-distributed-docs/understand/pod.md)