The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.

NDI is working to support political reform in Hong Kong, including strengthening political parties and civil society organizations. While civil liberties continue to be upheld in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), there has been limited progress toward direct elections for the Chief Executive and the LegCo, which the Basic Law allows for as early as 2007. The executive is not accountable to the public through direct elections since the Chief Executive (CE) is elected by a select group of 800 individuals who form the Election Committee. The "executive-led" government has not built a strong relationship with any of the political parties in the Legislative Council (LegCo), Hong Kong's legislature. The LegCo has relatively narrow powers with no role in forming a government. In addition, only half of the LegCo is elected through universal suffrage.

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