Consul Democracy

Consul Democracy is a free software platform that enables institutions and organisations to facilitate essential direct citizen participation processes. It encompasses citizen proposals, consultations, voting, participatory budgets, and collaborative legislation.

The platform offers flexibility, allowing each institution/organisation to tailor it to their specific needs. All functionalities can be turned on or off, and the homepage and other information pages can be customised without the need for programming. The platform's appearance can be adapted to align with the institution's corporate image. Furthermore, it is multilingual, having been translated into 45 languages.

Initially developed by the Madrid City Council in 2015, Consul Democracy took a significant step forward in 2019 with the establishment of the Consul Democracy Foundation. This move aimed to reduce potential dependencies and embrace the diversity of the growing global "Consul Democracy Community."

Today, Consul Democracy is utilised by more than 150 local, regional, and national governments, with a primary focus on cities. It spans from small towns with just a few thousand inhabitants to major cities like Munich, Buenos Aires, and Madrid. More than 100 million citizens around the world can make decisions using participation websites deployed with Consul Democracy.

Collaborations extend to supranational and international institutions and NGOs, including the United Nations Development Program, Open Government Partnership, GIZ, and others. These entities work to empower citizens, even in conflict regions like Somalia and certain cities in Palestine, or in the localization of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations' 2030 Agenda.

Consul Democracy is being translated to more than 40 languages, also in a collaborative process that is carried out in Crowdin.

Sharing this technology has enabled cities, governments, and entities to work collectively, creating a community to exchange best practices, knowledge, and ideas. Online spaces exist where individuals involved in these projects collaborate and provide support.

One of the highlights of our community work is the CONSULCon conference, most recently held in 2022 in Würzburg, Germany, provides an opportunity for participation experts, IT professionals engaged in Consul Democracy's development and implementation, activists, politicians, and other individuals working in the realm of direct democracy and citizen participation to convene.

For additional information about the project, including documentation and videos, please visit our website.