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.

NDI has developed a first-of-its-kind analytical framework to assess the level of “good governance” in a country. With funds from the United Nations Development Programme, NDI used the framework for a pilot assessment in Montenegro that measured the degree to which its system of governance is transparent and accountable and how it measures up against the criteria for membership in the European Union. The assessment, which looked at the implementation of laws by more than 30 governing bodies across the executive, judicial and legislative branches, includes recommendations to increase accountability and transparency. The assessment tool can be used in other countries to evaluate government and public institutions and civil society organizations.