Elections are complex undertakings. Regardless of where they take place, election management bodies (EMBs) face numerous risks in organizing them.
These risks are linked to the legal, operational, technical, political and security aspects of electoral processes. When risks become certainties, the consequences can be serious in both well-established and transitional democracies.
International financial institutions (IFIs) are active in many developing countries, influencing the economy through their different operations and, in some cases, exerting significant influence on public sector reform and national economic policies.
On 15 November 2016, International IDEA welcomed Hon. Donatille Mukabalisa, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Republic of Rwanda, with a delegation of Members of the Chamber of Deputies, to the International IDEA Headquarters in Stockholm.
International IDEA, together with the Community of Democracies (CoD) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) held on 10 November the European Consultation on Gender Equality and Political Empowerment of Women.
Disclaimer: Views expressed are those of the staff member and do not represent the institutional position of International IDEA.
International IDEA is hosting the 6th High Level Meeting of the Inter-Regional Dialogue on Democracy (IRDD), to discuss the theme of Gender Equality and Political Empowerment of Women. This year the High Level Meeting will take place on 8 November 2016, at the Headquarters of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France.
International IDEA’s Annual Review of Constitution-Building Processes provides a retrospective account of constitutional transitions around the world, the issues that drive them, and their implications for national and international politics.
In situations of violent conflict, negotiated agreements—including ceasefire or peace agreements and documents detailing constitutional arrangements—attempt to reach a new political settlement between the warring protagonists, which is ideally supported by the broader society.
Such political settlements aim to move the country or region from conflict to a situation characterized by constitutional commitments to good governance and the rule of law.
On 28 October, International IDEA welcomed 16 female local councillors from Indonesia, Turkey, Kenya, Indonesia, Macedonia, Namibia, Uganda, Ukraine and South Africa.
The digitalization of all aspects of our lives has contributed to dramatically change the context for inter-personal and political communication, agenda-setting and policymaking.
Political parties are in crisis. Party membership and voter turnout are very much in decline around the world. The rise of social media has allowed citizen movements to become more frequent, leaving formal political institutions struggling to maintain relevance. Political parties are central actors in a representative democracy, but they must adjust to the changing social and political climate.
In recent years technological advances have changed the basis of many activities. Banks around the world are closing offices and focusing their services on online applications. They know one thing for certain: few young people visit their branches anymore. Most prefer to bank using their computers or even their smartphones.
Elections are essential elements of democratic systems.
Political parties are the centrepiece of political representation in democratic systems.
Political parties have come to embody a central element of modern representative democracies—voluntary associations of citizens that aggregate and represent the interests of the people. Not only have they become indispensable for democratic governance, they have thus become the key gatekeepers for accessing political power and voice in governmental decision-making.
Mission Impossible - Organized crime erodes the legitimacy of the state from the local population with global consequences. What can we do?
Local democracy encompasses formal and informal subnational institutions that respond to citizens’ needs.
The relationship between organized crime and politics around the world has become akin to symbiotic.
Effective service provision entails the efficient and effective provision of public services, but also giving citizens and groups within society—regardless of gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity or class—the opportunity to participate in the relevant decision-making processes.
When a country begins a political transition away from violent conflict or non-democratic rule, there are many difficult steps that it must take.
Developing an electoral justice system, which includes the means and mechanisms to ensure that electoral integrity is maintained or restored when an electoral process is damaged by repression, misconduct, or irregularities, may appear to decision-makers to be a secondary concern or even an afterthought.
