All 2013 projects | Key theme 3: Establishing free knowledge in society – Goal 4: Cooperations – Change 4.2: Freeing government works

Project description: Election questionnaires

In the run-up to each of the four state and one federal elections in Germany in 2013, Wikimedia will send election questionnaires to the parties running for office in order to raise awareness among politicians about the issue of open access to government works. We will publish the answers to these questions. (P15)

Contact / Project Manager: Mathias Schindler (Politics & Society)
Total budget: €10,000
Implementation period: December 14, 2012 – December 15, 2013

What is the project about?

There will be at least four important elections in Germany in 2013, including a federal election. For the past four years, Wikimedia Deutschland has sent catalogues of key questions on topics concerning its field of work to the parties running for office.

Our aim in sending these catalogues in 2013 is to draw attention, at the federal and state level, to the problems regarding the publication and free availability of government works and to increase awareness of these issues among the general public. In the questionnaire for the federal election, the focus will be on questions jointly drafted by the Wikimedia project communities.

How will this project help us meet our annual goals?

The four elections in 2013 – three state elections and a federal election – mean that people will follow politics more closely. Wikimedia Deutschland can make use of this fact. The election questionnaires can help to achieve Wikimedia Deutschland’s goal of obtaining greater awareness of and support for its own regulatory proposal for the use of government works.

The election questionnaires form the basis for discussions with political actors in a manner compatible with Wikimedia Deutschland’s policy of political neutrality. The idea is that the questions will encourage politicians to take a stance on the use of government works. Furthermore, the questions should make it easier for Wikimedia Deutschland to advocate discussion of these topics in coalition talks after the elections.

What are the key milestones along the way and by when should we reach them?

No.	When	What
1.	January 10, 2013	Publication of the election questionnaire for the state election in Lower Saxony.
2.	September 5, 2013	Publication of the election questionnaire for the federal election.
3.	September 5, 2013	Publication of the election questionnaire for the state election in Hesse.
4.	September 1, 2013	Publication of the election questionnaire for the state election in Bavaria.