Political Integrity

The political integrity module has been co-developed with the Open Government Partnership research team and Transparency International. To capture a breadth of information and data relevant to political integrity and to address key gaps in current data, it addresses five specific sub-themes:

  • Data on political party finance;
  • Data on political interest declarations;
  • Lobbying registers;
  • Data on public consultation in rule-making;
  • Data on right-to-information regime performance.

This is the largest thematic module in the Global Data Barometer 2021 edition and is being used to pilot an extended thematic module approach.

To find out more about the development of this thematic module, you can consult our research handbook.

Theme updates

Charting the Course to Strengthen Political Integrity
Building a greater understanding of political integrity data infrastructures
Protecting the integrity of politics: Transparency International

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Political integrity indicators

Governance: Political finance

To what extent do relevant laws, regulations, policies, and guidance provide a basis for collecting and publishing data on campaign and party finance?

Existence

  • Are there laws, policies, or regulations requiring collection or publication of this information in any form?
    • No.
    • They are being drafted, or are not yet implemented.
    • They exist and are operational.
  • Do relevant laws, policies, regulations, or guidance discuss the publication of open data?
    • There is no mention of data or the publication of data in relevant laws, policies, or guidance.
    • Requirements to publish data are set out in non-binding policy or guidance.
    • Requirements to publish data are set out in binding policy, regulations, or law.
    • Requirements to publish this information as open data are set out in binding policy, regulations, or law.

Elements

Provisions for definitions, kinds, and fields:

  • The framework contains clear and unambiguous definitions of campaigning activities of parties, candidates, and third parties. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires donors’ identities be made public.
  • The framework requires collecting specific information on financial contributions. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires collecting specific information on assets and liabilities. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires collecting specific information on income and spending. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires collecting specific information on in-kind and non-financial support. (No, Partially, Yes)

Provisions for data quality:

  • The rules/guidance empower an agency or official to ensure the accurate and timely collection and publication of required data. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires a verification process. (No, Partially, Yes)

Provisions for openness, timing, and structure:

  • The framework requires regular updates, including updates in conjunction with campaigns and defined campaign schedules. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The rules/guidance support the collection of structured data. (No, Partially, Yes)

Extent

  • How comprehensive, in terms of jurisdiction, is the coverage of the laws, regulations, policies, or guidance assessed for this question?
    • They cover one or more localities, but there are many other localities without such rules/guidance, or with rules or guidance of a lesser quality.
    • They cover one or more localities and are a representative example of the kind of rules/guidance that can be found for all, or most, localities.
    • They provide national coverage.

Availability: Political finance data

To what extent is political finance information available as open data?

Existence

  • Is this data available online in any form?
    • Data is not available online.
    • Data is available, but not as a result of government action.
    • Data is available from government, or because of government actions.

Elements

Data fields and quality:

  • Data contains details of donations, public funding, and membership dues for each party or candidate. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data contains details of income for each party or candidate. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data contains details of financial contributions to each party or candidate. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data contains details of assets and liabilities of each party or candidate. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The data contains details of the spending of each party or candidate. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data contains details of in kind and non-financial support donated to each party or candidate. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data contains details of the timing and amounts of donations linked to donors. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data contains first and last name for each donor. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data contains detailed information about each donor, including place of residence, occupation, and employer. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data includes unique identifiers for each donor. (No, Partially, Yes)

Data openness, timing, and structure:

  • Dataset is available free of charge. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data is openly licensed. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data is available in all the country’s official or national languages. If the country has no official or national languages, data is available in the major languages of the country. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • There are accessible and open official tools available to help users explore data. (No, Partially , Yes)
  • Data is timely and updated. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Historical data is available that allows users to track change over time. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data is provided in machine-readable format(s) (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The machine-readable dataset is available as a whole (No, Partially, Yes)

Negative scoring:

  • This information is missing required data.
  • The availability of this data has been affected by government response to COVID-19. (No, Partially, Yes)

Extent

  • How comprehensive is the data assessed for this question?
    • The data assessed covers one or more localities, but there are many other localities without available data, or with data of a lesser quality.
    • The data assessed covers one or more localities, and is a representative example of the kind of data that can be found for most but not all localities.
    • The data assessed provides national coverage.

Governance: Asset declarations

To what extent do relevant laws, regulations, policies, and guidance provide a basis for collecting and publishing data on the interests and assets of public officials?

Existence

  • Are there laws, policies, or regulations requiring collection or publication of this information in any form?
    • No.
    • They are being drafted, or are not yet implemented
    • They exist and are operational.
  • Do relevant laws, policies, regulations, or guidance discuss the publication of open data?
    • There is no mention of data or the publication of data in relevant laws, policies, or guidance.
    • Requirements to publish data are set out in non-binding policy or guidance.
    • Requirements to publish data are set out in binding policy, regulations, or law.
    • Requirements to publish this information as open data are set out in binding policy, regulations, or law.

Elements

Provisions for definitions, kinds, and fields:

  • The framework requires collecting specific information on assets and liabilities. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires collecting specific information on in-kind and non-financial support. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires collecting information on significant changes in assets and liabilities. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires disclosure of income and assets held by a public official’s spouse, family members, or other intimates. (No, Partially, Yes)

Provisions for data quality:

  • The rules/guidance empower an agency or official to ensure the accurate and timely collection and publication of required data. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires a verification process. (No, Partially, Yes)

Provisions for openness, timing, and structure:

  • The rules/guidance require that data is regularly updated. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires the publication of income and asset declarations. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The rules/guidance support the collection of structured data. (No, Partially, Yes)

Extent

  • How comprehensive, in terms of jurisdiction, is the coverage of the laws, regulations, policies, or guidance assessed for this question?
    • They cover one or more localities, but there are many other localities without such rules/guidance, or with rules or guidance of a lesser quality.
    • They cover one or more localities and are a representative example of the kind of rules/guidance that can be found for all, or most, localities.
    • They provide national coverage.

Availability: Asset declarations

To what extent is interest and asset declaration information available as open data?

Existence

  • Is this data available online in any form?
    • Data is not available online.
    • Data is available, but not as a result of government action.
    • Data is available from government, or because of government actions.

Elements

Data fields and quality:

  • The data contains unique identifiers for each public official and any family members or intimates for whom disclosure is required. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The data contains information on income, assets, and liabilities. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The data contains information on in-kind and non-financial interests. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The data contains information on significant changes in assets and liabilities. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The data contains details of the assets and liabilities held by each family member for whom disclosure is required. (No, Partially, Yes)

Data openness, timing, and structure:

  • Dataset is available free of charge. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data is openly licensed. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data is available in all the country’s official or national languages. If the country has no official or national languages, data is available in the major languages of the country. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • There are accessible and open official tools available to help users explore data. (No, Partially , Yes)
  • Data is timely and updated. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Historical data is available that allows users to track change over time. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data is provided in machine-readable format(s) (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The machine-readable dataset is available as a whole (No, Partially, Yes)

Negative scoring:

  • This information is missing required data.
  • The availability of this data has been affected by government response to COVID-19. (No, Partially, Yes)

Extent

  • How comprehensive is the data assessed for this question?
    • The data assessed covers one or more localities, but there are many other localities without available data, or with data of a lesser quality.
    • The data assessed covers one or more localities, and is a representative example of the kind of data that can be found for most but not all localities.
    • The data assessed provides national coverage.

Governance: Lobbying register

To what extent do relevant laws, regulations, policies, and guidance provide a basis for collecting and publishing data on lobbying activities?

Existence

  • Are there laws, policies, or regulations requiring collection or publication of this information in any form?
    • No.
    • They are being drafted, or are not yet implemented.
    • They exist and are operational.
  • Do relevant laws, policies, regulations, or guidance discuss the publication of open data?
    • There is no mention of data or the publication of data in relevant laws, policies, or guidance.
    • Requirements to publish data are set out in non-binding policy or guidance.
    • Requirements to publish data are set out in binding policy, regulations, or law.
    • Requirements to publish this information as open data are set out in binding policy, regulations, or law.

Elements

Provisions for definitions, kinds, and fields:

  • The framework contains clear and unambiguous definitions of lobbyists, lobbying clients, lobbying activities, and public officials. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires the collection and publication of the identities of lobbyists, lobbyist clients, and public officials who engage with lobbyists. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires the collection and publication of information on lobbyists’ goals for lobbying activities. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires the collection and publication of information on timing of lobbying activities. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires the collection and publication of information on topics of lobbying activities. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires the collection and publication of information on how much money is spent on lobbying activities. (No, Partially, Yes)

Provisions for data quality:

  • The rules/guidance empower an agency or official to ensure the accurate and timely collection and publication of required data. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires a verification process. (No, Partially, Yes)

Provisions for openness, timing, and structure:

  • The rules/guidance require that data is regularly updated. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The rules/guidance support the collection of structured data. (No, Partially, Yes)

Extent

  • How comprehensive, in terms of jurisdiction, is the lobbying framework assessed for this question?
    • The framework assessed covers only some selected parts of national or local government.
    • The framework assessed covers the national government, but may have some exceptions or may not apply to other levels of government.
    • The framework covers the entire public sector.

Availability: Lobbying data

To what extent is lobby register information available as open data?

Existence

  • Is this data available online in any form?
    • Data is not available online.
    • Data is available, but not as a result of government action.
    • Data is available from government, or because of government actions.

Elements

Data fields and quality (I):

  • The data contains unique identifiers for each lobbyist and public official. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The data contains clear identifying information for each lobbying client. (No, Partially, Yes)

Data fields and quality (II):

  • The data contains participant details for each interaction between a lobbyist and a public official. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The data contains information about lobbyists’ goals for lobbying activities. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The data contains dates and time details for each interaction between a lobbyist and a public official. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The data contains information about the topic of each interaction between a lobbyist and a public official. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The data contains information about the money spent on each interaction between a lobbyist and a public official. (No, Partially, Yes)

Data openness, timing, and structure:

  • Dataset is available free of charge. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data is openly licensed. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data is available in all the country’s official or national languages. If the country has no official or national languages, data is available in the major languages of the country. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • There are accessible and open official tools available to help users explore data. (No, Partially , Yes)
  • Data is timely and updated. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Historical data is available that allows users to track change over time. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data is provided in machine-readable format(s) (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The machine-readable dataset is available as a whole (No, Partially, Yes)

Negative scoring:

  • This information is missing required data.
  • The availability of this data has been affected by government response to COVID-19. (No, Partially, Yes)

Extent

  • How comprehensive is the data assessed for this question?
    • The data assessed covers one or more localities, but there are many other localities without available data, or with data of a lesser quality.
    • The data assessed covers one or more localities, and is a representative example of the kind of data that can be found for most but not all localities.
    • The data assessed provides national coverage.

Governance: Public consultation data

To what extent do relevant laws, regulations, policies, and guidance provide a basis for collecting and publishing data generated through and about public consultation on rulemaking?

Existence

  • Are there laws, policies, or regulations requiring collection or publication of this information in any form?
    • No.
    • They are being drafted, or are not yet implemented.
    • They exist and are operational.
  • Do relevant laws, policies, regulations, or guidance discuss the publication of open data?
    • There is no mention of data or the publication of data in relevant laws, policies, or guidance.
    • Requirements to publish data are set out in non-binding policy or guidance.
    • Requirements to publish data are set out in binding policy, regulations, or law.
    • Requirements to publish this information as open data are set out in binding policy, regulations, or law.

Elements

Provisions for definitions, kinds, and fields:

  • The framework requires the publication of notice of intent in advance of public consultation processes. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires the publication of proposed regulations. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires the timely publication of a full set of public comments generated through public consultation processes. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires reasoned responses to be published alongside comments. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires the publication of final regulations and justification. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires the publication of challenges to laws and regulations that have undergone public consultation processes, as well as their results. (No, Partially, Yes)

Provisions for data quality:

  • The rules/guidance empower an agency or official to ensure the accurate and timely collection and publication of required data. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires a verification process. (No, Partially, Yes)

Provisions for openness, timing, and structure:

  • The rules/guidance require that data is regularly updated. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The rules/guidance support the collection of structured data. (No, Partially, Yes)

Extent

  • How comprehensive, in terms of jurisdiction, is the coverage of the laws, regulations, policies, or guidance assessed for this question?
    • They cover one or more localities, but there are many other localities without such rules/guidance, or with rules or guidance of a lesser quality.
    • They cover one or more localities and are a representative example of the kind of rules/guidance that can be found for all, or most, localities.
    • They provide national coverage.

Availability: Public consultation data

To what extent is public consultation information available as open data?

Existence

  • Is this data available online in any form?
    • Data is not available online.
    • Data is available, but not as a result of government action.
    • Data is available from government, or because of government actions.

Elements

Data fields and quality:

  • The data includes proposed regulations. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The data includes a full set of public comments generated through public consultation processes. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The data includes supporting information, such as notices of intent and reasoned responses. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The data includes final regulations and justifications. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The data includes details of challenges to regulations that have passed through public consultation processes, as well as the results of these challenges. (No, Partially, Yes)

Data openness, timing, and structure:

  • Dataset is available free of charge. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data is openly licensed. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data is available in all the country’s official or national languages. If the country has no official or national languages, data is available in the major languages of the country. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • There are accessible and open official tools available to help users explore data. (No, Partially , Yes)
  • Data is timely and updated. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Historical data is available that allows users to track change over time. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data is provided in machine-readable format(s) (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The machine-readable dataset is available as a whole (No, Partially, Yes)

Negative scoring:

  • This information is missing required data.
  • The availability of this data has been affected by government response to COVID-19. (No, Partially, Yes)

Extent

  • How comprehensive is the data assessed for this question?
    • The data assessed covers one or more localities, but there are many other localities without available data, or with data of a lesser quality.
    • The data assessed covers one or more localities, and is a representative example of the kind of data that can be found for most but not all localities.
    • The data assessed provides national coverage.

Governance: RTI performance

To what extent do relevant laws, regulations, policies, and guidance provide a basis for collecting and publishing data on the performance of right to information (RTI) / freedom of information (FOI) processes?

Existence

  • Are there laws, policies, or regulations requiring collection or publication of this information in any form?
    • No.
    • They are being drafted, or are not yet implemented
    • They exist and are operational.
  • Do relevant laws, policies, regulations, or guidance discuss the publication of open data?
    • There is no mention of data or the publication of data in relevant laws, policies, or guidance.
    • Requirements to publish data are set out in non-binding policy or guidance
    • Requirements to publish data are set out in binding policy, regulations, or law.
    • Requirements to publish this information as open data are set out in binding policy, regulations, or law.

Elements

Provisions for definitions, kinds, and fields:

  • The framework requires the collection and publication of data regarding the number of requests submitted and processed. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires the collection and publication of data regarding how long it took the relevant government agency or agencies to fill requests. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires the collection and publication of data regarding material withheld and the reasons for withholding it. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires the collection and publication of data regarding appeals to RTI determinations and their results. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires that information is linked to the relevant agency, department, or other governmental entity. (No, Partially, Yes)

Provisions for data quality:

  • The rules/guidance empower an agency or official to ensure the accurate and timely collection and publication of required data. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The framework requires a verification process. (No, Partially, Yes)

Provisions for openness, timing, and structure:

  • The rules/guidance require that data is regularly updated. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The rules/guidance support the collection of structured data. (No, Partially, Yes)

Extent

  • How comprehensive, in terms of jurisdiction, is the framework assessed for this question?
    • The framework assessed covers only some selected parts of national or local government.
    • The framework assessed covers the national government, but some positions, agencies, or branches may be exempt or the framework may not apply to other levels of government.
    • The framework covers the entire public sector.

Availability: RTI performance data

To what extent is detailed RTI performance information available as open data?

Existence

  • Is this data available online in any form?
    • Data is not available online.
    • Data is available, but not as a result of government action.
    • Data is available from government, or because of government actions.

Elements

Data fields and quality:

  • The dataset includes details on the number of requests submitted and processed. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The dataset includes details on how long it took the relevant government agency or agencies to fill requests. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The dataset includes details about material withheld and the reasons for withholding it. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The dataset includes details about appeals to RTI determinations and their results. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data is linked to the relevant agency, department, or other governmental entity. (No, Partially, Yes)

Data openness, timing, and structure:

  • Dataset is available free of charge. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data is openly licensed. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data is available in all the country’s official or national languages. If the country has no official or national languages, data is available in the major languages of the country. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • There are accessible and open official tools available to help users explore data. (No, Partially , Yes)
  • Data is timely and updated. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Historical data is available that allows users to track change over time. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Data is provided in machine-readable format(s) (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The machine-readable dataset is available as a whole (No, Partially, Yes)

Negative scoring:

  • This information is missing required data.
  • The availability of this data has been affected by government response to COVID-19. (No, Partially, Yes)

Extent

  • How comprehensive is the data assessed for this question?
    • The data assessed covers one or more localities, but there are many other localities without available data, or with data of a lesser quality.
    • The data assessed covers one or more localities, and is a representative example of the kind of data that can be found for most but not all localities.
    • The data assessed provides national coverage.

Capability: Political integrity interoperability

To what extent is political integrity data interoperable across different political integrity datasets, as well as other datasets associated with relevant information flows?

Existence

  • There is evidence that datasets share common identifiers.
    • The datasets do not share common identifiers.
    • The datasets use a limited number of common identifiers.
    • The datasets of this theme consistently use common identifiers.
    • The datasets of this theme consistently use common identifiers and share common identifiers with relevant datasets in other themes.

Elements

Interoperability across political integrity datasets:

  • The key datasets for this theme share common identifiers that facilitate mapping flows across the data ecosystem. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The different political integrity datasets use common identifiers for public officials. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Lobbying data and political finance data share common identifiers for lobbyist clients and party and campaign donors. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Lobbying registers and public consultation data use common identifiers for regulations. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Asset declarations and political finance disclosures share common identifiers for interests, assets, and liabilities. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The various datasets share common identifiers for legal persons associated with donations, interests, assets, liabilities, and lobbying activities. (No, Partially, Yes)

Interoperability across other relevant datasets:

  • The key datasets for the political integrity and company information modules share common identifiers that facilitate mapping flows across the data ecosystem. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The key datasets for the political integrity and land modules share common identifiers that facilitate mapping flows across the data ecosystem. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The key datasets for the political integrity and public finance modules share common identifiers that facilitate mapping flows across the data ecosystem. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The key datasets for the political integrity and public procurement modules share common identifiers that facilitate mapping flows across the data ecosystem. (No, Partially, Yes)

Extent

  • To what degree do the datasets associated with this theme use consistent identifiers and identification systems for elements that appear in more than one dataset?
    • There is no consistency of identifiers or identification systems.
    • There is minimal consistency; at least one category of identifiers is consistent across two datasets.
    • There is partial consistency; several categories of identifiers are consistent across multiple datasets or whole identification systems are consistent across at least two datasets.
    • There is strong consistency; all of almost all of the element categories that appear in more than one dataset use consistent identifiers and identification systems.

Use: Accountability uses of PI

To what extent is there evidence of political integrity data being used to identify, expose, or highlight failures of government?

Existence

  • Is there evidence of this data being used for accountability purposes?
    • No evidence of actors or entities using this data for accountability purposes.
    • There are isolated cases of actors or entities using this kind of data for accountability purposes, though the source may not be open data.
    • There are a number of cases of actors or entities using this kind of open data for accountability purposes.
    • There are widespread and regular cases of actors or entities using this kind of open data for accountability purposes.

Elements

User groups:

  • Civil society organizations regularly use this data for accountability purposes. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The media regularly uses this data for accountability purposes. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • Scholars or academic institutions regularly use this data for accountability purposes. (No, Partially, Yes)
  • The private sector regularly uses this data for accountability purposes. (No, Partially, Yes)

Specific features:

  • At least one of the examples identified describes using artificial Intelligence or machine learning to process data (No, Partially, Yes)

Extent

  • There is evidence that these uses have had or are having meaningful positive impacts.
    • No
    • Partially
    • Yes