When risks materialize and vulnerabilities exist, crises occur. Preparedness is what separates those who are overwhelmed with the turn of events from those who can effectively prevent, withstand and resolve difficult situations.
With the growing evidence of democratic backsliding, and understanding that democracies are vulnerable in times of crises, initiatives to protect the integrity of electoral processes and results they yield become ever more important.
As a build-up to the Annual National Forum on Women in Politics to be held on 27 October 2021, International IDEA’s Asia and the Pacific Regional Programme organized a webinar entitled “Challenges faced by Women in the Path of Politics”. This topic is relevant considering Fiji will go to polls some time in the second half of next year.
Ciudad de Panamá, Panamá. El Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD), la Entidad de las Naciones Unidas para la Igualdad de Género y el Empoderamiento de las Mujeres (ONU Mujeres) y el Instituto Internacional para la Democracia y la Asistencia Electoral (IDEA Internacional) realizaron los días 19 y 20 de octubre el seminario regional de alto nivel
Climate change poses an existential threat for humanity and has become the defining issue of our time. The outcome of the climate crisis will depend on whether democracies can drastically reduce their carbon footprints in the coming years. Climate change already has an impact on democratic governance through its effects on food security, conflicts, water scarcity. migration and natural disasters, among other consequences.
This Discussion Paper was drafted for an International IDEA webinar on Taming the Incumbency Advantage (25 May 2021), the first of a series on innovative constitutional design options. It has been revised and updated to reflect contributions from webinar participants: Professor Juvence F. Ramasy (Madagascar), Professor Ridwanul Hoque (Bangladesh) and Professor Gabriel Negretto (Latin America), among others.
Against a background of deteriorating informational environments, falling trust in state institutions and growing electoral result disputation, electoral processes and those who administer them are increasingly being placed under the microscope.
Against a background of deteriorating informational environments, falling trust in state institutions and growing electoral result disputation, electoral processes and those who administer them are increasingly being placed under the microscope.
Regulations concerning the funding of political parties and election campaigns, commonly known as political finance, play a critical role in safeguarding the integrity of political processes and institutions in any democracy.
Fiji, being a transitional democracy with fragile institutional and regulatory mechanisms, is susceptible to the negative effects of money in politics. Yet for a very long time, regulations related to the funding of political parties, candidates and election campaigns, commonly known as political finance, were largely absent in the South Pacific country.
Como parte de una serie de eventos titulada Conversaciones sobre opciones innovadoras de diseño constitucional, el Programa de construcción de constituciones de IDEA Internacional organizó un panel de expertos para debatir sobre "Instituciones constitucionales para un medio ambiente más seguro" el 16 de septiembre de 2021.
El día 5 de octubre, en el Aniversario 33 del plebiscito de 1988, que pavimentó el camino a la democracia en Chile, IDEA Internacional firmó un acuerdo de colaboración y asistencia con la Convención Constitucional Chilena.
On the 33rd Anniversary of the 1988 plebiscite, which paved the way for democracy in Chile, International IDEA signed a collaboration and support Agreement with the Chilean Constitutional Convention on 5 October 2021.
En la actualidad Chile se encuentra inmerso en un proceso de redacción, deliberación y discusión de un nuevo texto constitucional que luego deberá ser ratificado en un plebiscito por la ciudadanía. Este proceso ya lleva tres meses y la Convención Constitucional y sus 155 integrantes -electos por votación popular- han trabajado arduamente en constituirse y darse las reglas y normativas de organización, procedimiento, ética, transparencia y participación popular e indígena.
As part of a series entitled Conversations on Innovative Constitutional Design Options, International IDEA’s Constitution Building Programme hosted an expert panel to discuss “Constitutionalizing Institutions for a Safer Environment” on 16 September 2021. The webinar deliberated on the role of constitutions in responding to the climate crisis, the most profound challenge to humanity, particu
كيف نقدم لدراسة حول فصل دستوري ملأ الدنيا وشغل الناس، تتقاطع فيه ضرورات وضع ضوابط للحقوق والحريات مع أفق حمايتها ويحدد فيه التناسب بين الضوابط وموجباتها زاوية تدخّل القانون في الحرية؟ وكيف نلخص بحثاً حول القراءات الممكنة لفصل جوهري في دستور ٢٧ جانفي/يناير ٢٠١٤ التونسي في علاقة بالحرية الفردية، بالحرية اللصيقة بمفهوم الفرد الذي ولد خارج ربوعنا ولم ينضج في مجتمعاتنا الشرقية، بما يجعلها تمانع الحريات الفردية وتعتبرها خطراً على تماسك البنية الاجتماعية؟
The Secretary-General of International IDEA, Dr Kevin Casas-Zamora, took part in the “Constitutionalizing Institutions for a Safer Environment webinar organized by the Institute’s Constitution-Building Programme on 16 September 2021. The event was part of the programme’s new webinar series on Conversations on Innovative Constitutional Design Options.
“The data that you (International IDEA) collected is a very systematic and comprehensive set of data.”
‘Even if you do put special [Covid] measures in place, they still have to preserve the fundamental democratic features of an election that make it free and fair ... and ensure that everyone can accept the result as legitimate.’ Michael Maley at the workshop on Covid-Resilient Elections in Timor-Leste.
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.
