National Democratic Institute | NDI

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News and Views

Commentary from experts on the directions and challenges of democracy assistance programs.


March 30, 2010	Decision Time in Burma for Democracy's Advocates The Washington Post U Win Tin, a founder of Burma's National League for Democracy party, describes the choice his party is facing in the upcoming elections in Burma. The ruling generals issued a set of electoral laws that threatened to abolish the party if it does not participate in upcoming elections. At the same time, no political prisoners are allowed to participate in the process, including Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League of Democracy. "Our objective is to reject this sham constitution and create one that will guarantee democracy, human rights, justice, the rule of law and equality among all ethnic nationalities through an all-inclusive, genuine political dialogue." Read More
March 10, 2010	The Year Open Data Went Worldwide TED Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, included NDI's Afghanistan Elections Data site in his TED talk about open data. Berners-Lee shows examples of the benefits that come from putting raw data on the web, and the many ways people can use it to increase transparency, safety or even disaster response. "There is an open data movement afoot now, around the world," he says. At 3:11, he shows the Afghanistan Elections Data site. "This is a mashup of the data which was released about the Afghan elections. It allows you to set your own criteria for what sort of things you want to look at." Read More
March 9, 2010	In Colombia, Democracy is Stirred but not Shaken The Washington Post The authors praise the recent decision by the Colombian Supreme Court to reject a referendum that would have given President Uribe a third term. Despite Uribe's popularity in the country, young democracies need to build strong institutions that are above any one person. "Colombia has pushed back against this wave of autocracy and struck a blow that should resonate. Tempted by easy constitutional change, Colombia chose instead to set a model for durable and peaceful democratic transitions of power." Read More
March 7, 2010	American Foreign Policy Shouldn't Focus on Elections - in Iraq or Elsewhere The Washington Post Marina Ottaway, director of the Middle East program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, questions the importance U.S. foreign policy places on elections in developing democracies — sometimes at the expense of supporting longer-term democratic institutions. "Foreign policy by election is appealing for simple reasons: We are good at organizing elections. An election result is concrete. Unfortunately, elections aren't all we've built them into. They are not defining moments, but only a small part of much larger and more complicated stories, and they can even, at times, keep democracy from taking root." Read More
March 1, 2010	Great Expectations in South Sudan The World Bank In this blog post for the World Bank, the author visits Juba, in South Sudan, and looks ahead to the referendum in January of next year, when voters will decide whether the South will remain part of a unified Sudan or become independent. Using the survey results from NDI's polls, the author worries about security, crime and corruption and their impact on the political process. Read More
February 24, 2010	Does Obama Have His Own Freedom Agenda? Foreign Policy Journalist James Traub compares and contrasts the words and deeds of the Obama and Bush administrations with regards to democracy assistance and engagement with autocratic regimes. NDI President Ken Wollack challenges the idea that the Obama administration is not interested in democracy programs. "There's been this drumbeat that there's been an abandonment, but I don't think that's the case," Wollack says in this Foreign Policy article. Read More
February 16, 2010	The Dalai Lama's Principled Pursuit of Democracy The Washington Post Carl Gershman, president of the National Endowment for Democracy, praises the Dalai Lama not just for being a spiritual and religious leader, but for being a principled democrat and working to strengthen democracy across Asia and around the world. "By showing deep concern for all human beings, in keeping with his belief in universal responsibility, he has awakened the spirit of human and international solidarity that animates all those around the world who are struggling for democracy and human rights." Read More
February 16, 2010	Don't Forget the World's Food Gap Politico NDI board member Tom Daschle focuses on one of the ways that democracy can deliver: by ensuring safe, nutritious food is available to everyone. He lists a number of challenges to ensuring global access to food and lays out the ways that we can overcome these challenges, including free markets and better collaboration. Read More
February 10, 2010	What Became of the "Freedom Agenda?" The Wall Street Journal Francis Fukuyama argues that democracy promotion strategies are still important and should be pursued by the Obama administration. Fukuyama believes that the "freedom agenda" originally put forward by George W. Bush remains sound, though its credibility was undermined by the last administration's support for the war in Iraq. "Taking a Middle Eastern democracy agenda seriously does not mean that we should return to the loud trumpeting of promises of support for regional democracy that we cannot keep. Nor does it mean playing the authoritarians' game of affirming fake liberalization as the real article of democracy. It does mean working quietly behind the scenes to push friendly authoritarians towards a genuine broadening of political space in their countries through the repeal of countless exceptional laws, defamation codes, party registration statutes and the like that hinder the emergence of real democratic contestation." Read More
January 20, 2010	Afghanistan Needs a Surge of Diplomacy The New York Times Ambassador Karl Inderfurth, a member of NDI's election observation mission to Afghanistan, co-authors an opinion piece in the New York Times with Chinmaya R. Gharekhan, emphasizing a regional, diplomatic approach to the problems in Afghanistan. "But assuring Afghanistan's future will require more than a military and civilian surge and better Afghan governance. A diplomacy surge is also required. Specifically, in the words of a recent statement signed by 20 former foreign ministers led by Madeleine K. Albright, "there needs to be a regional solution to Afghanistan's problems." Read More