About

Under IPC’s Democratization and Institutional Reform Cluster, the Checks and Balances Network (CBN) is a civic movement in which 296 NGOs (working at the national and local level) and tens of thousands of supporters and followers from different political backgrounds work together to strengthen participatory and pluralistic democracy. The Network, which came together in 2011 during the period of drafting a new constitution, aims to contribute to strengthening the system of checks and balances in Turkey, which is indispensable to Turkey's democratization, by conducting monitoring, policymaking, public opinion building, and advocacy activities. The CBN operates through “reform groups” working in seven areas where reform is needed for a functioning system of checks and balances. These reform groups address the constitution, legislative, executive, judiciary, media, local governments, and civil society.

As another project under this cluster, mecliste.org is an online platform that was established in February 2016 with the aim of developing a more participative and transparent legislative process and enabling all components of this process to contribute to and benefit from it. Since the day it was established, mecliste.org has prepared information on draft laws and proposals within the TBMM agenda and informed its followers about the duties and responsibilities of the parliament.