Overview
For the past number of years, NDI has worked in partnership with the three largest international groupings of political parties - Centrist Democrat International (CDI), Liberal International (LI), and Socialist International (SI) - to foster global multiparty cooperation. The goal is to work together to create a better understanding of the important role political party development plays, in both the consolidation of democracy and in strengthening the democratic character of parties and pluralist systems more generally.
Political parties form the cornerstone of democratic society and serve a function unlike any other institution. As Seymour Martin Lipset noted in The Indispensability of Political Parties, "democracy in a complex society may be defined as a political system which supplies regular constitutional opportunities for changing the governing officials, and a social mechanism which permits the largest possible part of the population to influence major decisions by choosing among contenders for political office, that is, through political parties." Parties aggregate and represent social interests and provide a structure for political participation. They train political leaders who will assume roles in governing societies. And, parties contest and win elections to seek a measure of control of government institutions.
In many areas of the world today, political parties are facing a crisis of public confidence borne of their organizational and political shortcomings. NDI-sponsored polling and focus groups in a variety of countries confirms the disconnect suffered between parties and their electorates. Parties are perceived as ineffective, corrupt and out of touch with their constituencies; they lack credibility and often fail to attract young leadership to their ranks. At the same time, support has risen for independent candidates, special interest parties, and anti-party movements. This crisis poses a dire threat to democratic development. "Political parties created democracy and…modern democracy is unthinkable save in terms of parties," wrote E.E. Schattschneider.
Program Highlights
In 1999, NDI began its program, "Creating an International Partnership for Political Party Development," to address the challenges facing political parties worldwide, build a greater awareness of the importance of political parties and political party development, and foster an initiative with the three party internationals to support democratization.
NDI organized the "Political Parties and Democracy: Reform and Renewal" workshop at the World Movement for Democracy in New Delhi in February 1999. The workshop attracted more than 80 political party leaders from around the world. By accepting the vital role political parties play in a democracy as a given, the workshop concentrated on exploring the challenges facing political parties and efforts to reform.
In July 1999, NDI hosted the first working meeting with leaders of CDI, LI and SI. Together, the three organizations represent more than 300 political parties in over 120 countries. This inaugural meeting began a discussion to identify and build upon the common principles that should form the basis of an international partnership, one focused on supporting the transition and consolidation of democracies.
The primary topics for these inaugural discussions included fostering a combined effort to create a better understanding of the importance of political party development in the consolidation of democracy; assessing how each party international views its work in promoting and consolidating democracy; exploring ways in which the party internationals can cooperate with one another, and with NDI, in promoting and consolidating democracy and defending struggling democrats in autocratic environments; and discussing how the party internationals might better utilize contacts in problematic countries to encourage constructive activities or behavior.
In June 2000, NDI took advantage of an opportunity - presented by the Towards a Community of Democracies conference of foreign ministers and the nongovernmental parallel conference World Forum on Democracy (WFD) in Warsaw - to further the Institute's efforts to strengthen cooperation among diverse democratic party groupings supporting democratic movements around the world.
In cooperation with the party internationals, NDI organized a panel discussion entitled "Political Parties: Catalysts or Obstacles to Reform" to highlight the vital role political parties play. A secondary goal of the panel was to help ensure that political party building - an often misunderstood and underutilized element of democracy building - becomes a central issue among the worldwide network of pro-democracy activists, elected leaders and scholars, and that it has sufficient resources allocated to it by the international donor community. A joint declaration was discussed at the WFD session, and subsequently approved. Further, a resolution drawn from the declaration was discussed at meetings of CDI, LI and SI in October/November 2000. The leadership of these three bodies has endorsed the initiative, and fully support moves to advance the work set out in the declaration (read the text of the declaration here).
In February 2001, the leaders of CDI, LI, and SI met under NDI's auspices with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson at a roundtable discussion in Geneva, Switzerland. The UNHCHR welcomed the initiatives of the party internationals and NDI in developing international cooperation in political party development, and agreed to explore ways of offering technical cooperation in the areas of political party laws, elections, and party financing in transition countries. At a subsequent meeting, the party international representatives reiterated their wish to strengthen their partnership through a series of working group meetings and a larger conference. While in Geneva, the three party internationals also agreed to join an international campaign to support Burma's democracy movement.
In July 2004, NDI hosted its most recent meeting of the party internationals in Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to the party internationals, the dialogue was strengthened by the presence of the European party groups-including the European Liberal Democrats, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, and the Party of European Socialists-and German party foundations. The meeting emphasized common concerns related to political parties as well as the role of political party development in the democratic process.
After an introduction by NDI President Ken Wollack, the session opened with remarks by the directors of the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance in which each shared information about global-scale projects of interest to political parties. NDI also presented its own key projects designed to assist party practitioners, such as an upcoming research paper series that will explore how political parties can become more open and representative. A free-flowing conversation followed, with all participants expressing enthusiasm and support for this collaborative approach to tackling the challenges posed to political party development.
Next Steps
The party internationals and NDI will soon establish a joint initiative in which they-as well as the European party groups, German foundations, international party foundations, and other interested organizations-can work together in a targeted area. Preliminary discussions have focused on Central or West Africa.
Links
To learn more about these political party international organizations, please visit the following sites:
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