Share
Elections
NDI engages with political parties and civic organizations in voter and civic education, electoral law reform and monitoring all phases of the election process. These programs build confidence, accountability and legitimacy of governments. NDI has worked with more than 300 citizen groups and coalitions in 74 countries that have mobilized more than two million citizen election monitors, engaged with hundreds of parties promoting electoral integrity and organized over 100 international election observation missions around the world.
The Institute also has been a pioneer in the development and use of parallel vote tabulations (PVTs), a powerful citizens’ tool to assess the integrity of voting and counting processes and verify the accuracy of official election results. In addition, NDI has played a leading role in establishing standards for international election observation and in the creation of the Global Network of Domestic Election Monitors, or GNDEM, which connects 140 member monitoring organizations from more than 60 countries.
Political Parties
NDI works with its partners on methods of political party building — from internal democratic procedures and candidate selection to polling, platform development and public outreach. The Institute has worked with more than 720 political parties and organizations in more than 80 countries to create more open political environments in which citizens can actively participate in the democratic process. It does not promote particular parties or ideologies. Operating from a practical viewpoint, NDI offers assistance to promote parties’ long-term organizational development, enhance their involvement in elections, establish codes of conduct, mitigate political conflict, and help them participate constructively in government. The Institute also works to promote dialogue across party lines.
Founded as a political party institute, NDI maintains a loose affiliation with the U.S. Democratic Party but takes no position on U.S. elections or political issues. And it works with democratic political parties around the world regardless of their political philosophies. It is the only organization to have official standing in the three largest political party internationals representing Social Democratic, Liberal and Centrist Democratic ideologies.
Women in Politics
NDI has been a leader in efforts to promote the political participation of women. The Institute’s creative and wide-ranging programs — in both challenging environments where democracy is just beginning to flourish and in more established democracies — engage women in legislatures, political parties and civil society as leaders, activists and informed citizens. These programs create an environment where women can advocate on matters of policy, run for political office, be elected, govern effectively, and participate meaningfully in every facet of civic and political life. At any given time, nearly 75 percent of NDI country programs have a dedicated component addressing women’s political participation. The Institute is a partner with the United Nations Development Programme, UN Women, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and International IDEA in iKNOW Politics, a global forum to advance women’s political participation.
