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“What do the scandals concerning the notebooks of corruption and the fake contributions to the Cambiemos political coalition tell you about political financing?” “That it is like the tango ‘Yira, yira.’” “And why is that?” he is asked.

The use of referendums in processes of constitutional formation and change has increased considerably across the world in recent decades.

Electoral system design plays a crucial role in political settlement processes.

However, it is a world with which political actors in transitions—and even to some extent the constitutional community itself—often have limited familiarity.

This Discussion Paper is based on a presentation by the author at the fourth Edinburgh Dialogue on post-conflict constitution-building, held in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, on 4–5 December 2017.

El Presidente de la República, Martín Vizcarra, anunció que el Ejecutivo iniciará los procedimientos necesarios para someter a consulta popular la aprobación de una serie de reformas entre las que se incluyen: la prohibición de la reelección de congresistas, la creación de un Senado y mejoras a la regulación del financiamiento privado de campañas electorales.

The President of the Republic, Martín Vizcarra, has announced that the Executive Branch will start with the necessary procedures for people to decide on the approval of a series of reforms, among which the prohibition concerning the re-election of members of Congress, the creation of a Senate and improvements to the regulation on the private financing of electoral campaigns.

From Spain to Tanzania to Ukraine, the idea of secession is a critical issue for constitutional design, and has been since the first modern constitution was adopted in the United States in 1789.

Territorial divisions come in many forms. They occur in both federal and unitary states, and may involve divisions based on religion, language, history and identity, as well as natural resources.

One of the 17 sustainable development goals of the United Nations is to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. While progress has already been made in fields such as education and equal pay, women and girls remain underrepresented in political decision-making roles.

International IDEA has been supporting a democratic approach to consultative, collaborative and inclusive community building in Bhutan through funding of various activities of its partner civil society organizations. On 4 July 2018, International IDEA’s support saw over 90 town committee members come together in the collaborative visioning of the future of Paro town, which is home to the country’s only international airport.

The final front page of The Cambodian Daily  read “Descent into Outright Dictatorship”, before ending 24 years and 15 days of independent journalism in the country and being forcibly shut down over state-imposed legal threats over a disputed USD 6.3 million bill in back taxes. This final headline was perhaps symptomatic of the repressive actions of the Hun Sen-led government in Cambodia as it increased its authoritarian grip on the country.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this commentary are those of the staff member. This commentary is independent of specific national or political interests. Views expressed do not necessarily represent the institutional position of International IDEA, its Board of Advisers or its Council of Member States.

Declaración: Las opiniones expresadas en este comentario son las del miembro del personal. Este comentario es independiente de intereses nacionales o políticos específicos. Las opiniones expresadas no representan necesariamente la posición institucional de International IDEA, su Consejo de Asesores o su Consejo de los Estados Miembros.

International IDEA Haiti’s office organized a training day on 4 July 2018 for consultants from various political parties represented in parliament to draft their strategic plan.

Este artículo se encuentra disponible en Castellano.

La oficina internacional de IDEA Haití organizó un día de capacitación el 4 de julio para consultores de varios partidos políticos representados en el parlamento para redactar su plan estratégico.

This article is available in English.

It is often said that the revolution that consequently overthrew Ben Ali’s regime in Tunisia in 2011 was one that belonged to younger generations. In fact, the presence of young people in the events that led up to the revolution was extremely important.

When we think about refugees, we rarely think about them as political actors. However, refugees may in fact have a dual political role, as they can participate in the political life of both their host and their home countries.

Corruption in Peru has had a great impact on politics and government institutions. The perception that exists surrounding corruption in the public sector, combined with a local culture that is permissive of microcorruption (e.g. bribing the police and running red lights), generates a greater tolerance of corruption and leads to the normalisation of such actions.

This article is availble in English.

The recent Irish constitutional referendum on abortion made global news, but what is less known to the international public is that the proposal for change came from a group of 100 randomly selected Irish citizens which formed a "Citizens’ Assembly", tasked with meeting, receiving public submissions and expert presentations, deliberating and producing recommendations.

For democracies to thrive, a vibrant and actively engaged citizenry and civil society are essential. Civil society can monitor and hold the state to account, it can infuse a greater diversity of voices into the policy process, and it can act as a force for democratic reform or provide resistance to democratic backsliding.