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Join our online roundtable that aims to contribute to a better understanding of the current and likely future effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on democracies in Armenia, Georgia and Moldova. In addition, the discussion will aim to distill recommendations on how national and international democracy assistance providers should revise their actions in response to this crisis.
IDEA Internacional y la Oficina del Comisionado Electoral de Mauricio (OEC) recientemente volvieron a unir fuerzas para organizar un Taller de Desarrollo de Capacidades para la Protección de Elecciones en Port Louis. El taller sirvió como secuela del evento celebrado en febrero a principios de este año y tenía como objetivo empoderar aún más a las partes interesadas nacionales en la protección de la integridad electoral.
International IDEA and the Office of the Election Commissioner of Mauritius (OEC) recently re-joined forces to organize a Protecting Elections Capacity Development Workshop in Port Louis. The workshop served as a sequel to the event held in February earlier this year and aimed to further empower national stakeholders in protecting electoral integrity.
Popular uprisings, protests and unconstitutional regime changes are common characteristics of political change and political life in Africa. The decade 2011–2021 has seen a wave of popular uprisings slamming against the bedrock of long-established autocratic regimes.
International IDEA and the Office of the Election Commission of Mauritius (OEC) recently organized a Protecting Elections Workshop in Port Louis, bringing together various national organizations with the mandate to organize or support elections to jointly map challenges to electoral integrity and identify courses of action.
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.
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).
Armenia, Georgia and Moldova continue to strengthen their democratic systems. Achievements, albeit with many challenges, include improvements to the conduct of elections, increasing the transparency and accountability of government institutions, and maintaining an open civic space for citizens and media to openly debate, question, or challenge their governments.
Political parties are the centrepiece of political representation in democratic systems.
Post-conflict democratization has always been regarded as an ordeal, and democracy-building in the South Caucasus countries is no exception.
The countries of the region—Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia—are telling examples of the fact that elections are insufficient for the establishment of democracy.
Constitution-building has become an increasingly common activity as countries seek to improve their state apparatus or make political transitions to realize national goals and address current challenges.
While many countries have addressed political party finance constitutionally, such provisions are usually phrased in general terms, leaving the details to law and to the regulations promulgated by enforcement agencies.
Legal reforms to political party finance systems are not a panacea: but when written and implemented well, the legal framework can help address significant challenges that face political party systems.
International IDEA and the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development (CIPDD) organized a conference in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 2005 on constitutional and political reform in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. It was dedicated to the exchange of information about the reform process in the three South Caucasus countries and the prospects for their European integration.
Internal pressures and advocacy for change have raised awareness and precipitated debates about the nature and need for reform processes in many Arab countries.
Such debates have drawn in a diverse range of groups articulating interests and defining their own political programmes. In this context, electoral processes, women's participation and political parties have emerged as central issues in political reform agendas in the Arab world.
These essays tell the story of elections that took place in 2003 in the three countries of the South Caucasus, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, seen through the eyes of nine regional participants and commentators.
The authors therefore write with the immediacy and the vibrancy that comes with close engagement, and sometimes take strong judgments based on their individual standpoints as the processes unfolded.
On 25 November, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), in partnership with Vytautas Magnus University and the European Humanities University, will hold International Conference “Constitutionalism in Europe: Current Challenges and Prospects for the Future”.