Democracy Dialogue

NDI President Kenneth Wollack (center), with Lorne Craner (left), the president of the International Republican Institute, and Ambassador Robert Neumann at a panel discussion.

Support for democracy has been a priority of U.S. foreign policy since the earliest days of the republic, and its advantages over other forms of government have come to be accepted globally. But there are many manifestations of democratic governance – how it is achieved and how it delivers for its citizens – that are the subject of continuing debate. To help illuminate this debate, NDI has collected commentary from its own experts and others along with some of the key documents upon which democracy programs are based.

Our Perspectives

Commentary from NDI Board members and staff on democracy promotion generally and on specific NDI programs. | Read more »

News and Views

Commentary from experts on the directions and challenges of democracy promotion programs. | Read more »

Key Documents

A library of the basic documents upon which democracy programs are based. | Read more »

New Additions

OUR PERSPECTIVES

Obama must push – not just praise – Jordan's efforts at democratic reform

Christian Science Monitor

Cole Blockenfeld, director of advocacy at the Project on Middle East Democracy, argues that reforms instituted for Jordan’s Jan. 2013 parliamentary elections were “only minor technical and administrative improvements to the voting process” rather than fundamental reforms that require the monarchy to share power. According to Blockenfeld, who participated in an NDI election observation delegation, too much praise from the U.S. for “modest steps” made to improve the elections are detrimental, because they give the monarchy the impression that these small changes are enough.

“For a country that prides itself on being stable, progressive, and a dependable ally of the West, Jordan must do more to meet the high bar it sets for itself. US praise for limited reforms not only reinforces a hollow and fragile process, it is also a strategic miscalculation in a volatile region.”

03/14/2013

The Resistible Rise of the Islamists?

National Democratic Institute

During a recent discussion hosted by the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Middle East Program, Les Campbell, NDI director for Middle East and North Africa programs, joined Marina Ottaway, a Woodrow Wilson Center senior scholar, to talk about recent electoral victories by Islamists in the Middle East and North Africa and how this affects the region’s opposition movements.

During the event, Campbell noted that “street politics” as the only way to challenge Islamists posed a danger to democracy in countries like Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco, where there is not a strong functioning opposition. Campbell touched on some of the reasons that secular parties struggle in Egypt, including an unwillingness to do tough campaign work, a belief that the international community will pressure Islamists to include them and a fear of putting resources into elections whose results could be cancelled.

He also discussed governing challenges that the Islamists face, especially in Egypt, due to issues like lack of governing experience and a disconnect with the economic elite. Campbell argued that the international community should engage secular Egyptian political parties, and make it clear to the Islamists that they are willing to pressure them to follow democratic practices.

Read a full summary of the event here.

02/28/2013

NEWS AND VIEWS

Daughter to seek probe into Cuban dissident's death

Agence France-Presse

Rosa María Payá recently told an audience at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) that she would ask the Inter-American Human Rights Commission for an investigation of the car crash that killed her father, Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá. Payá said her family is requesting the investigation "to draw attention to the repression of people in Cuba."

“Payá was one of the Cuban government's most prominent critics, and his death caused an international storm. Several US legislators are supporting the Payá family request for an international investigation, which will be formally presented to the commission on Wednesday.”

04/09/2013

Oswaldo Payá's Daughter: Fatal Car Wreck Was Second Suspicious One in Two Months

Fox News Latino

The daughter of Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá is calling for an international investigation into the car crash that killed her father. She said that two months before the fatal incident, for which the Payá family believes the Cuban government was responsible, someone forced her father’s car into another accident.

“Rosa María Payá said that while Raúl Castro’s new policies on relaxing some travel restrictions for Cuba and for private enterprise have come across to some as an step toward making democratic reforms, repression actually is on the rise.

"‘Our mission is to call for a truly independent investigation,’ [Payá] said, ‘and at the same to call global attention to the way the Cuban government will stop at nothing to silence and mistreat its critics and opponents.’”

04/09/2013

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.