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.

Though Peru has shown robust economic growth and relative resilience in the face of a global economic slowdown, many Peruvians continue to face a widening socioeconomic divide, poverty and exclusion from political life.  Surveys conducted by the polling firm Ipsos Apoyo show that Peruvians harbor growing mistrust and pessimism about their leaders.

When Libyans went to the polls to elect a General National Congress (GNC)—an interim body that will appoint a new government and oversee the drafting of a constitution – they were joined by thousands of volunteer activists from civil society, there to observe and report on the vote. The citizen observers, part of three observer networks, hoped to contribute to the election’s integrity and help ensure that it adhered to national and international standards of conduct.

El NDI se encuentra en duelo por la trágica pérdida de Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, el líder cubano de la democracia que falleció en un accidente automovilístico en la provincia oriental de Granma, Cuba, el 22 de julio del año en curso. 

In the wake of last October’s constituent assembly elections in Tunisia, a number of political parties have come together in various combinations to form a governing coalition and a workable opposition. Such coalition-building is new to Tunisia, where, until the ouster last year of long-time President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, one-party rule was the norm.