Exhibitions in a Political Context and Their Impact on Knowledge Democracy

Parliaments play a key role in the concept of knowledge democracy. They contribute to the production and dissemination of knowledge, promote critical thinking and opinion formation, and strengthen democracy through high-quality laws. Scientific investigation has always focused on the work of committees and plenary session debates, but less attention has been paid to the communication measures that contribute to informing the populace. However, these are necessary to ensure the objective reporting of the topics under debate. This article is the first to address a completely new topic of public information by parliaments: exhibitions in a political context. The new visitor center in the Austrian parliament, the Demokratikum—Experience Parliament, is used to illustrate the innovative communication measures that are being taken to educate citizens about the functions of parliamentarianism. The focus is on the production and communication of knowledge using digital and interactive exhibition stations that explain complex political topics in a user-friendly way. In addition to presenting single examples, this article aims to promote innovative communication concepts to show people all the possibilities for participation in political systems and thus strengthen the quality of democracy in the long term.