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.

Citizens living outside of Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), get little attention from the country’s central government and have poor access to public services like health care, electricity and education. The federal government makes all decisions and there has been little progress in efforts to give local governments power over such services, a process known as decentralization. In addition, there have been no municipal elections in almost 20 years, so local officials are appointed by the central government.

When the Liberian legislature convened in January, about 60 percent of its members were new, as were most of their staff members.  As the new lawmakers got their bearings and learned their way around the Capitol, their staffers were learning the best ways to support their bosses through a first-of-its-kind week of training sessions for legislative staff.

As the political transition proceeds in Libya, leaders continue to struggle to meet public expectations on key issues such as security, political reform and standard of living, according to a new public opinion study by NDI.

K. Scott Hubli is the director of governance programs at NDI. He previously served as a senior advisor with NDI's executive office, and has directed the Institute's governance programs once before, from 2000 to 2006. As the director of NDI's governance programs, Mr. Hubli provides technical support to the Institute’s legislative strengthening, public integrity, rule of law and local governance programs worldwide. During his tenure, he has conducted assessment or training missions in more than 25 countries, including several joint parliamentary assessments with USAID.