Beginning in late 2010, from Tunisia, Egypt and Libya to Syria, Yemen, Bahrain and Jordan, countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have experienced individualized versions of what has come to be known as ‘The Arab Spring’.
In this context, moreover, these countries are now confronting their own versions of the multi-faceted, multi-layered democratic transition agenda.
The debate over whether religion has any ‘public’ role in a democratic transition is not limited to the question of electoral and legislative involvement by religious groups.
The common idea about the Arab democracy deficit is that it must have something to do with the rigidity of the way religion functions in the socio-political setting of the region.
In September 2011 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and International IDEA jointly organized a conference on how to best address the role of customary governance structures in a variety of current and potential future democracy-building contexts.
Election experts from all over the world met in Gaborone, Botswana, on 7–9 March 2011 for the 5th Global Electoral Organization (GEO) conference, organized by International IDEA and the Botswana Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
The development landscape is changing. The increased influence of the G20, the role of China as a donor and the failure of the Paris Agenda—only having met one of the 13 targets for 2010 in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness at the global level—are likely to change the direction of international aid.
Donor efforts to support democracy and good governance have, in the past few years, been shaped by two dominant trends in international assistance to developing countries.
En una sociedad que se informa de política preponderantemente a través de los medios de comunicación masiva y desarrolla en este escenario la competencia electoral, la ausencia en estos espacios durante una campaña puede significar menores posibilidades de ser conocido(a) por parte del electorado, de transmitir propuestas y, en resumen, de apelar al voto.
La igualdad de género en la participación política constituye uno de los indicadores que suele tomarse en cuenta a la hora de evaluar el estado de avance del desarrollo de las democracias.
Constitution-building refers to processes for negotiating, drafting and implementing constitutions.
Many constitutions are framed following conflict. Increased intervention of the international community in the resolution of civil and intra-state conflicts has led in many cases to external actors extending their roles into constitution building. External intervention in constitution building presents challenges and pressures on these exercises of sovereignty.
Hasta hace poco más de 30 años, sólo tres países latinoamericanos gozaban de regímenes democráticos con procesos electorales competitivos: Colombia, Costa Rica y Venezuela.
An opening product of the Andean–US Dialogue Forum, this report is intended to spur conversations on more effective cooperation by identifying convergences and divergences in priorities among the countries and the citizens of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia and the United States.
This publication’s richness lies in its having been prepared with the participation of civic leaders, public officials and managers of social programs in the Huancavelica region in Peru, in an individual and collective effort to improve these programs and ensure that they meet their goals.
Journalists and media outlets always operate in a given social, political and economic context that affects their interpretation of reality and the filters used to select what is ‘important’ and how it is presented to the public.
In the Latin American case, that context still presents various challenges when it comes to placing gender equality at the centre of the public debate and the behaviour, attitudes and perceptions of the citizens and all the actors.
The nature of democracy building support has changed radically in the last 10 years. At the same time, the third wave of democratization has led to an explosion of experience, knowledge, successes and failures across the Global South.
Entre mayo y junio de 2008, el Instituto Internacional para la Democracia y la Asistencia Electoral (International IDEA) organizo un seminario en el que se trato de recuperar para la agenda política peruana algunas de las principales líneas de pensamiento que han alimentado y avivado la política del país durante el siglo XX: el pensamiento social cristiano, los socialismos, los nacionalismos, el pensamiento de Haya de la Torre, el pensamiento de Fernando Belaunde Terry, perspectivas d
As the impact of media on democratic institutions grows increasingly influential, it is important to develop a comparative analysis of this complex and sensitive relationship.
This study rests on the belief that one of the most relevant issues when analysing democratization processes in Latin American countries is the role of the media, and their influence on political representation (the right to participate) and public debate (the right to oppose).
En el año 2009 se conmemoraron tres décadas del proceso de democratización más extenso y profundo en la historia de América Latina. Los avances más notorios se constatan en materia de procesos electorales libres y justos, así como en la vigencia y respeto de los derechos humanos.
Con la vigencia de la nueva Constitución boliviana se abrió un período de la vida del país pletórico de interrogantes, dudas y hasta temores. Seguramente los múltiples conflictos políticos y regionales de los años 2007 y 2008, que pusieron a Bolivia al borde de la guerra civil o de confrontaciones mayores, contribuyeron a que las naturales dudas que acompañan a toda reforma constitucional se convirtieran en temores.
A escala mundial, las mujeres representan cincuenta por ciento de la población. Sin embargo, en la esfera política, la presencia de líderes políticas, dirigentes partidarias, candidatas y funcionarias electas no alcanza la misma proporción.
The need to improve access to justice for citizens, especially at the local level, is one of the key findings of the fourth Philippines Democracy Assessment.
Other barriers to access justice for ordinary citizens are the high cost and the lengthy delays for cases to go through the court process. The lack of information about the judicial system and how it works is also an impediment to access to justice.
