The Parliamentary Centre, in collaboration with International IDEA, is organizing a conversation useful for Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and Canadian foreign and development policy thinkers to ensure support for women's political voice, inclusive democratic institutions and human rights remain at the heart of Canada’s COVID-19 response.
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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.
This Discussion Paper reviews the performance of 16 lobbying registers according to 3 interlinked dimensions: (a) transparency; (b) regulatory capacity; and (c) interoperability. Under ‘transparency’, the paper examines the scope of lobbying information collected by the register in question, as well as how that information is administered and subsequently disclosed.
As political campaigning in the lead-up to elections has moved online, parties and candidates have found new and innovative methods for connecting with voters. However, new challenges have multiplied, with the regulation and oversight authorities struggling to keep up. Campaign communications are increasingly opaque online, thus enabling harmful mis- and disinformation to influence electoral narratives.
One of the particularities of what is currently being negotiated between Saudi Arabia and Ansar Allah is that the parties are contemplating establishing a revenue allocation mechanism in the absence of an overarching constitutional or political framework.
عملت المؤسسة الدولية للديمقراطية والانتخابات في عام ٢٠١٦ مع خبراء بارزين في القانون الدستوري على وضع منهجية جديدة لتقييم الدساتير. وتتألف المنهجية من تقييم ‘أداء’ الدستور المعني، وهذا يتضمن تحديد أهدافه والسعي للتأكد من تحقيقها بناء على بيانات مأخوذة من مصادر مختلفة. وقد طبقت المؤسسة تلك المنهجية منذ ذلك الحين على عدد من البلدان بالتعاون مع خبراء وشركاء محليين.
The number of democracies in the Americas remains the same as two years ago despite the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, most of the democracies in the region demonstrated great resilience in the face of the pandemic. Parliaments, the judiciary and the media of most democracies in the region managed to adapt and continue to exercise their control functions, even in the midst of numerous restrictions that hampered their work.
On 15 August, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for a snap election. This September election, a full two years before the next elections were due, was an opportunistic move. As leader of the Liberal Party, Trudeau had been governing with a plurality (but not a majority) of the seats in the House of Commons since 2019. In the summer of 2021, the Liberal Party was polling well, and the election call was an attempt to translate that polling support into a majority government.
The influence of money in politics is a significant threat to democracy, affecting established and emerging democracies alike.
Inadequately controlled flows of money undermine the credibility of elections and the integrity of democratic institutions and processes around the world. Well-designed political finance regulations that are enforceable and anchored in their country’s context play a vital role in ensuring that money is a positive force in politics.
What are women and youth commissions? What purpose do they serve? How are they formed? Do they further marginalize women and youth or bring them into the folds of decision-making?
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.
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.