The State of Local Democracy (SoLD) assessment framework is designed to facilitate a citizen-led and -owned approach to assessing the quality of democracy at the local level.

It is a practical resource for citizens to conduct self-assessments of democratic life in their locality, identify democratic strengths and weaknesses, and translate these into reform agendas for further broadening and deepening of their local democracies.

SoLD assessments capture the voices of men and women at the local level, and contribute to strengthening local and national governments’ responsiveness to the needs and aspirations of its citizens. It is intended to be as much an exercise in assessing the quality of local democracy as it is an opportunity for citizens to further deepen their democracy and democratic accountability.