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Discover who you wanna vote for12. May 2009 – 09:30 by pol-di.net e.V / politik-digital.de |
Votematch.eu opens with a bold statement: “ Good ideas catch on“, implying that the new online platform, which compares positions of political parties in the European Parliament with one’s own, is indeed such a good idea. The project, which is organised in a joint effort by the Institute for Political Participation (IPP) in the Netherlands and the Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb) in Germany, was launched in June 2008. The educational tool is based on the original method of the Dutch StemWijzer, which reduces the complexity of political party positions to single-sentenced claims and compares one’s own preference with those given by the parties.
Since its first launch, the StemWijzer-method has been copied in the run-up to numerous elections in different EU-member states. “Vote match Europe” now assembles 12 different “Vote Matchers” on one platform and offers thereby a Pan-European overview of the respective national political parties grouped in political factions in the EP. In contrast to the EU-Profiler, the answers to the theses are not generated from the parties’ programs, but individually given and authorized by the parties themselves. This certainly improves the authenticity of the project, yet does not erase the question marks which evolve if political party positions are reduced to one single sentence. After all, Vote Match is still a clickable infotainment tool, which establishes a bridge between young potential voters and the confusing jungle of daily party politics.
Tags: Bundeszentrale fuer politische Bildung, inenglish, Vote Match, Wahl-O-Mat
One Response to “Discover who you wanna vote for”
By Tiago Peixoto on May 15, 2009
From the EUPROFILER FAQ
Are the propositions authorized by the candidates or parties?
No. Parties have, in the past, exerted undue influence on VAAs such as this – either de-emphasising awkward issues or concentrating on areas that seem to favour their manifesto. The EU Profiler adopted a totally impartial method for formulating the propositions, or statements, that make up the survey.
It was based on extensive consultation with a range of experts, from academics to journalists, and exhaustive research of opinion polls, party materials and other sources.
The parties included in the EU Profiler were consulted throughout their positioning and the research on their policies. They were given the opportunity to ‘self-place’, meaning put forward their responses to the initial survey, and provide documentation for their positions. However, the EU Profiler team could always overrule a party self-placement.