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Dominican Republic
Election Observation
NDI's international observer delegation to the 1994 presidential election detected high levels of irregularities, prompting the Institute and other members of the international community to question the legitimacy of the elections.
NDI observers also played important roles during the 1996 and May 2000 presidential elections. For the 2000 elections, NDI and The Carter Center organized a 24-member joint international observation delegation.
More recent elections have benefited from the expertise of Participación Ciudadana, a civic organization that works to increase confidence and participation in the political process. NDI joined Participación Ciudadana, the Organization of American States (OAS) and the regional network of domestic observation organizations Acuerdo de Lima in sponsoring an international observer delegation to help monitor the 2004 presidential elections.
Stregthening Political Participation
From 2001 to 2007, 40 representatives of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) and the Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC) participated in NDI’s Political Leadership Program, a regional program to strengthen the leadership skills and ability of emerging political leaders to promote the modernization and renewal of political parties. The program involved an intensive, ten-day leadership development seminar and continued in-country with the young leaders implementing concrete party-strengthening projects. Project results in the Dominican Republic included: the creation of a party ethics code; reforming party statutes to include a quota of 33% for women and youth in elected positions; and increased training capabilities for party training institutes and women's party wings. NDI coordinated with Participación Ciudadana in implementing this program in the Dominican Republic.
Building on the results and methodologies of the Leadership Program, from 2006 to 2008 NDI provided technical assistance to the curriculum development of the Political Management Training Program of the Center of Governance and Social Management of the Technological Institute of Santo Domingo, which collaborated with NDI partner organization Participación Ciudadana to implement a national training program for young political leaders. This training program ended in May 2012.
Ecuador
Domestic Election Observation
In 2002, at the request of several Ecuadorian civil society organizations, NDI assisted civic leaders in developing a national organization to engage citizens in the electoral process and to promote political dialogue. With technical assistance from NDI, Citizen Participation Ecuador (Participación Ciudadana Ecuador, PCE) organized the first-ever nationwide domestic election observation in Ecuador, in which 4,000 Ecuadorian citizens monitored the 2002 presidential elections. In addition, PCE's youth volunteer network encouraged nationwide dialogue and participation in the country's first civic education campaign on punctuality. This highly respected civic organization continues to inspire citizens to strengthen and participate in Ecuador’s democracy.
Political Party and Civil Society Strengthening
From 2006 to 2012, NDI maintained a field office in Ecuador to help political organizations with internal reform efforts, to develop platforms on key issues of national concern and to encourage cooperation between political and civil society organizations. NDI work with political organizations focused on improving strategic planning, political negotiation, communications and transparency. NDI also helped prepare local leaders for the challenges of governance through workshops on the development of inclusive public policies. As part of these initiatives, NDI commissioned a series of focus groups to provide decision-makers with information about citizen opinions on key issues and about public perceptions of political organizations. These reports can be found here. In 2009, NDI continued its work to promote multi-sector dialogue on issues of concern by strengthening advocacy coalitions in the provinces of Chimborazo, Esmeraldas and Sucumbíos. These citizen coalitions sought to improve the delivery of basic services such as potable water and healthcare.
To help political organizations better understand and comply with recent legislation, NDI developed guides on the political organization and electoral law or “democracy code” passed in 2009. The democracy code established new requirements regarding organizational statutes, the development of national government plans, and the submittal of lists of signatures demonstrating uniquely affiliated members. NDI also worked with political organizations to increase women’s representation within their structures, one of the requirements for political organizations to register and compete in future elections.
From 2009-2010, emerging political leaders from across the ideological spectrum in Ecuador, including the ruling Country Movement (Movimiento País, MP) party, participated in the regional Political Leadership Program (Leadership Program, LP) of NDI. This program sought to strengthen the leadership skills and ability of emerging political leaders to promote the modernization and renewal of political organizations. This program was implemented annually with up to 40 youth and was implemented in three phases: 1) national academies for emerging political leaders in participating countries; 2) six participants from each of these countries were selected to participate in an international seminar; and 3) international seminar participants returned to their countries to implement organizational-strengthening projects that received NDI technical assistance. Organizational strengthening projects in Ecuador focused on increasing the political participation of indigenous, women and youth; implementing e-learning academies for organization members; and improving political organization use of social networks and technology tools for communication and outreach purposes.
El Salvador
El Salvador has been included in a current Central America regional program that encourages greater interaction by civic groups, political parties and government officials to work to address issues of citizen security.
Domestic Election Observation
NDI supported the transparency of the Salvadoran 2009 elections by helping impartial Salvadoran election observer groups implement a systematic and coordinated nationwide approach to monitoring the pre-election and election-day processes. NDI worked with the University Institute of Public Opinion (Instituto Universitario de Opinión Pública, IUDOP) at the Central American University; the Social Initiative for Democracy (Iniciativa Social para la Democracia, ISD); and the National Foundation for Development (Fundación Nacional para el Desarrollo, FUNDE). IUDOP conducted a national parallel vote tabulation (PVT or “quick count”), a proven methodology using a statistically random sample of polling station data; ISD monitored the role of television and written media by observing the quality and coverage of information offered to the public; and FUNDE monitored parties’ campaign advertising expenses in order to propose reforms aimed at greater transparency.
Prior to the electoral process, NDI supported the organizational development of Salvadoran election observation groups by sharing international best practices for monitoring pre-election and election-day conditions. NDI helped bolster the internal organizational capacity of Salvador national election observers in several areas, including: decision-making, division of labor, project planning, recruitment and training of nonpartisan domestic observer volunteers, and outreach strategies.
Electoral Study Mission
In 1989, NDI sponsored an electoral study mission to El Salvador in the lead up to the March presidential elections. The study produced by electoral experts from Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and the United States served as a point of reference for international observers on the newly-enacted Electoral Code reforms and administrative preparations for the elections.
Barriers to Political Participation
With local civic partners, NDI has conducted a number of benchmark democracy surveys in Central America since 2005. These surveys measure citizens’ democratic values and perceptions of democracy in their country. In El Salvador, NDI partnered with Dr. Guillermo Manuel Ungo Foundation (Fundación Dr. Guillermo Manuel Ungo, FUNDAUNGO) to conduct the El Salvador 2009 Benchmark Democracy Survey which uncovered a number of unexpected attitudes among women and young people. Key conclusions from the benchmark survey included the following:
- Young and educated women in El Salvador were significantly less engaged than their young, educated, male counterparts;
- Youth were more interested in and knowledgeable about politics than their older counterparts but face systematic institutional obstacles that prevent them from engaging in the electoral process;
- Salvadorans had the least confidence in political parties and Congress, among the institutions whose primary responsibilities are to represent the interests of the public; and
- A substantial majority of Salvadorans who had a high level of formal education did not support democratic principles and values, such as individual responsibility, equality and tolerance.
Citizen Dialogue
In 1995, NDI organized a series of discussion groups in El Salvador designed to improve communication and interaction between local government officials and community leaders as well as support the development of mechanisms for citizen participation.
Guyana
From 1990 to 2004, NDI supported the democratic transition in Guyana through efforts to strengthen the legislature, increase the involvement of political parties and non-governmental organizations in decision-making as well as the electoral process.
Constitutional Reform
NDI promoted the constitutional reform process in Guyana by providing relevant materials and by sponsoring the participation of local and international advisors in the development of the Constitution Reform Commission. NDI supported civic education and the participation of civil society in the constitution reform process by providing technical assistance to conduct public consultations.
Strengthening the Capacity of Parliament
NDI worked with the Speaker’s Office and the political parties represented in Parliament to improve the legislative processes and strengthen parliament as an institution. NDI assisted the Parliament Office and members of parliament to develop a permanent committee system, increase research and administrative capacity of staff, and develop opportunities for increased public engagement in the work of Parliament. The Institute also contributed to legislative strengthening by building a parliamentary library and disseminating the Laws of Guyana in an electronic format on compact disc to the public, the judiciary and the legal community.
Domestic Election Observation
NDI designed and implemented a comprehensive national voter education campaign and provided technical support to civic groups on election monitoring, contributing to increased transparency and public confidence in the electoral process.
In 1991, NDI organized a symposium on efforts to promote public confidence and participation in election processes. As a result of this symposium, a group of civic leaders created a nonpartisan watchdog organization, the Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB) to enhance the integrity of the electoral process in Guyana. Soon after its creation, the EAB played an integral role in verifying the accuracy of the preliminary voters’ list for the 1992 national elections, which were considered to be the country’s first open and democratic elections. NDI continued to work with the EAB as it organized Guyana’s first domestic election observation of the 1994 local elections, Guyana’s first local government elections in 24 years.
Strengthening Local Governance
NDI worked with the Ministry of Local Government to improve the effectiveness of local government by training over 500 officials in administrative management skills. A Manual on How Local Government Works was produced and distributed to improve communication between citizens and their local representatives.
NDI created and distributed to every local councilor a handbook entitled Building Effective Local Governance: A Guide for Local Councilors. The handbook was used as a tool by councilors and educators to increase understanding of Guyana’s local government laws, structure of central government and the roles and responsibilities of elected local officials.
NDI also provided support to a Joint Task Force on Local Government Reform, whose mandate was to ensure the implementation of constitutional reforms that transfer greater autonomy to local government bodies. NDI also implemented the “Making Cities Work” project in the city of New Amsterdam and Anna Regina, geared toward community action in resolving local concerns in collaboration with local officials.
Women’s Political Participation
NDI implemented a women’s political participation program designed to increase their representation in elected public office. Over 300 women from diverse backgrounds were trained by NDI in campaign management, public speaking, issues development, outreach, fund raising and media skills in preparation for local government elections. NDI also trained women in media monitoring and conducted a survey regarding public perceptions of women in politics.
From 1999-2004, NDI worked with The Carter Center (TCC) and the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) under the Democracy and Rule of Law program in Guyana.
