Democracy Works Authentication

specification: API Commons Authentication
specificationVersion: '0.1'
provider: Democracy Works
providerId: democracy-works
generated: '2026-09-07'
method: searched
docs: https://developers.democracy.works/api/v2#section/Introduction/Authentication
source: >-
  Derived from the securitySchemes of the eight refined OpenAPI documents in openapi/, then
  upgraded from the provider's own authentication section at
  https://developers.democracy.works/api/v2 and a live probe of
  https://api.democracy.works/v2/elections on 2026-09-07
description: >-
  A single API-key header, no OAuth, no scopes, and no self-service issuance. Note that the
  two live generations of this API use DIFFERENT auth headers — the v1 surface, still
  served, uses an Authorization header with an "apikey" prefix.
summary:
  types:
  - apiKey
  api_key_in:
  - header
  oauth2: false
  scopes: false
  mtls: false
  openid_connect: false
schemes:
- name: ApiKeyAuth
  type: apiKey
  in: header
  parameter: X-API-KEY
  applies_to: 'API v2 (https://api.democracy.works/v2) — all 11 operations'
  example: 'curl "https://api.democracy.works/v2/elections" --header "X-API-KEY: <YOUR API KEY>"'
  sources:
  - openapi/democracy-works-authorities-api-openapi.yml
  - openapi/democracy-works-ballot-measures-api-openapi.yml
  - openapi/democracy-works-candidates-api-openapi.yml
  - openapi/democracy-works-contests-api-openapi.yml
  - openapi/democracy-works-elections-api-openapi.yml
  - openapi/democracy-works-endorsements-api-openapi.yml
  - openapi/democracy-works-exports-api-openapi.yml
  - openapi/democracy-works-voting-locations-api-openapi.yml
  note: >-
    The contract's prose writes the header as "X-API-Key" and its curl example as
    "X-API-KEY"; HTTP header names are case-insensitive so either is accepted. The
    catalog's refined specs were normalized to the published curl form.
- name: AuthorizationApiKey
  type: apiKey
  in: header
  parameter: Authorization
  value_format: 'apikey <YOUR_API_KEY>'
  applies_to: 'API v1 (https://api.democracy.works, unversioned paths) — legacy, still live'
  example: 'curl -H "Accept: application/json" -H "Authorization: apikey $YOUR_API_KEY" "https://api.democracy.works/elections/upcoming"'
  sources:
  - openapi/democracy-works-elections-v1-api-openapi.yml
  note: >-
    Documented at https://developers.democracy.works/api/v1, which is also what the portal
    root serves. The v1 contract declares no securityScheme object — the header is described
    only in prose and as a request parameter on the upcoming-elections operation.
issuance:
  self_service: false
  signup_url: null
  process: >-
    Keys are issued by Democracy Works after a partnership conversation. The contract points
    at https://data.democracy.works/api-signup, which now soft-404s to the marketing
    homepage; the working routes are partnerships@democracy.works and
    https://www.democracy.works/contact.
  test_key: >-
    A test key is available on the same request path. There is no separate sandbox host and
    no key prefix distinguishing test from live. See sandbox/democracy-works-sandbox.yml.
observed_behavior:
- url: https://api.democracy.works/v2/elections
  request: no credential
  status: 403
  body: '{"message":"Forbidden"}'
  headers_of_note: 'x-amzn-errortype: ForbiddenException'
  probed: '2026-09-07'
- url: https://api.democracy.works/v2/elections
  request: 'X-API-KEY: not-a-real-key'
  status: 403
  body: '{"message":"Forbidden"}'
  probed: '2026-09-07'
  note: >-
    An invalid key and an absent key are indistinguishable — same status, same body. A
    client cannot tell "I forgot the header" from "my key was revoked" without out-of-band
    information.
- url: https://api.democracy.works/elections/upcoming
  request: no credential
  status: 403
  body: '{:message "Missing Authorization apikey header"}'
  content_type: application/edn
  probed: '2026-09-07'
  note: >-
    The v1 surface DOES name the missing header, and answers in EDN rather than JSON.
transport:
  https_only: true
  tls: TLSv1.3
  hsts: false
  note: >-
    api.democracy.works serves TLS 1.3 but sends no Strict-Transport-Security header on the
    v2 surface; the v1 surface does (max-age=31536000; includeSubdomains). See
    security/democracy-works-domain-security.yml.
gaps:
- No key rotation, expiry or scoping documented.
- No per-key permission model — one key grants the whole surface.
- No OAuth or delegated-authorization path, so an agent cannot act on a voter's behalf with
  a scoped, revocable grant; it holds a full-surface key.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com