As an institution, parliament has historically had a fraught relationship with the public in many countries. Public faith in national governments remains at historically low levels in much of the world, and this trend is no different in the 21st century. However, as recognition of this trend has grown among the general public, so too have efforts to increase transparency and accountability by legislators. The result is that many parliaments have made efforts to increase their accessibility and responsiveness to the public over recent years. Parliamentary monitoring organizations are non-governmental organizations or think tanks that provide independent scrutiny of legislative bodies such as national parliaments, congresses or assemblies. They do this by monitoring activities, focusing on areas like legislation and voting records, keeping track of committee proceedings, analyzing proposed bills and other parliamentary documents, and frequently reporting on their findings.

If you are interested in democracy and governance, parliamentary monitoring is a great practice ground. The main limitations of parliamentary monitoring organisations are that they are not tailored to tracking parliamentary activities in every country and they do not exist in many countries. That said, if you are interested in tracking legislative activities in various countries, parliamentary monitoring organisations are a great way to do that. They provide good experience in legislative monitoring and analysis, and they provide easy access to a wide range of issues that can make good starting points for advocacy campaigns.