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Democracies across the world – from established to emerging – are facing a new challenge in the rise of online campaigning, and the way in which political actors increasingly spend money in this space. Online campaigning often operates in a space where rules are unclear, malign actors thrive, and regulators struggle to keep up with the rapidly changing digital landscape.
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The first “BRIDGE Train the Facilitator (TtF) Workshop” is taking place in Albania during 4-15 July, under the facilitation of Doina Bordeianu, Zage Filiposki and Corneliu Pasat.
This 9-day training targets 18 staff of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Albania, as well as trainers with expertise in civic education.
The need for physical distancing during this COVID-19 pandemic has raised the need for innovative campaign methods to be developed by election contestants because conventional campaign methods such as rallies, public meetings, etc. are prohibited in some jurisdictions. Distant and online election campaigning may be seen as restrictive to both contestants and voters alike due to physical and technological barriers that appear. To what degree is this true?
This Report delves into the financial aspect of online campaigning, depicting a landscape characterized by lax regulation, the proliferation of malicious actors, and limited oversight capabilities to keep pace with rapid changes. In this sense, the challenges facing Albania are no different from those being tackled across much of the democratic world.
Nepal became a federal democratic republic following the Interim Constitution drafted in 2007, after a decade-long power struggle between the monarchy, political parties and the Maoist insurgents. Nepal's Election Commission has decentralized carrying out its election activities, with each district and province election office having the power to manage resources for the election in its respective area.
Despite widespread claims that parliamentary systems with an indirectly elected president produce better outcomes for democratic governance, constitutional reform to move away from a directly elected president to an indirectly elected president is extremely rare.
On 4-5 July, 2023, in Tirana, Albania, International IDEA in cooperation with Rule of Law Centre of Finland and Center Election Commission of Albania hosted the regional roundtable on "Interinstitutional Cooperation on Digitalization of Electoral Processes and Cybersecurity in the Western Balkans".
The Summit for Democracy is an initiative headed by the United States Government to discuss how to advance the Summit’s three broad themes: strengthening democracy and defending against authoritarianism; addressing and fighting corruption; and advancing respect for human rights.
The European Union’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) covers six countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. The Covid-19 pandemic put a strain on fledgling democracies in the EaP region, aggravating pre-existing concerns, such as the weak rule of law, insufficient accountability of executive branches vis-à-vis legislatures and fragile media freedoms (see International IDEA 2022).
International IDEA, with the support from the European Commission, has been contributing to increasing effective evidence-based and coordinated support for democracy across the world through the Supporting Team Europe Democracy (STED) project. Within this project, the Summit for Democracy (S4D) emerged as a unique opportunity to place democracy at the center of the global agenda.
Transparency in politics—in particular with regard to political finance—lies at the core of every democracy. The availability of accessible, detailed information about the funding of political parties and candidates enables scrutiny by civil society organizations and the wider public, and ensures that all political actors can be held accountable.
International IDEA’s Annual Review of Constitution-Building series provides a retrospective account of constitutional transitions around the world, the issues that drive them, and their implications for national and international politics.
The 22 years old Saraswati Nepali is the mom of two kids and lives approximately five hours' drive (and five hours walk) away from the headquarter of Karnali Province, Surkhet—a place that paid the heaviest of prices in the 10 year-long armed conflict from 1996-2006. Her first son is eight years old, and her second son is four and half years old, almost as old as her term of office as a ward member in Shiwalaya Rural Municipality (RM) of Karnali Province.
In view of ongoing and recent contestations between the president and prime minister, and president and legislature in Tunisia and in Sri Lanka, International IDEA’s Constitution-Building Programme organised a webinar on the ‘Value and Perils of Semi-Presidentialism in Transitional Contexts’ on 2 August 2021.
Bidi Yolkey Rai, 28, struggles to conduct an online session on the importance of local government committees that deal with Covid-19, the climate impact on agriculture, or road construction. “मलाई सुनि राख्नु भएको छ?” (“Can you hear me?”) She asks from time to time.
“Press the mic there...no no, on your left…”
"Oh, I was speaking all this all alone?” Laughter.
"Would you please mute your mic?”
“I should first know where the mic is!” Laughter.
“Am I audible?”
“Yes, yes, since the time you were scolding someone over the phone…” More laughter.
This post looks at emergency law responses to the Covid-19 pandemic in conflict-affected states in transition. While some type of emergency response to Covid-19 has been used in most states, we suggest that conflict ‘fault lines’ can mean that emergency law responses have a capacity to undermine transitions.