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.

Foreign Policy | Link to story  » In the 2010 parliamentary elections in Iraq, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his State of Law Coalition emerged as the head of government over rival Ayad Allawi and the Iraqiyya Party, which had won the election by a slim majority of two seats.

Daily Observer | Link to story  » During a phone conversation last week, a friend of mine who once interned in the offices of a former State Senator said to me: “Hey Darren, I have never been to Africa before, how does the congress or parliament work there?”

Blue Ridge Now | Link to story  » Clark Plexico is trying to do the very thing overseas that he sees falling apart in Raleigh: bring political leaders closer to the people and each other.

Source:  Washington Post Article Link:  Read More Published Date:  06/08/2012 The Washington Post editorial board argues that Libya is making advances toward democracy. Libya “appears to be taking a couple steps toward a new democratic order for every step back.” Libya’s recent steps forward include the success of the interim government in registering 90 percent of the country’s eligible voters (47 percent of whom were women) for what would be the first election in 60 years. Successful local elections took place in both Benghazi and Misrata.

Left to right: Scott Hubli, NDI director of governance; Djoomart Otorbaev, deputy prime minister of the Kyrgyz Republic; Muktar Djumaliev, ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic to the United States Urging  greater international investment in Kyrgyzstan, Djoomart Otorbaev, deputy prime minister for economics and investment, asked the international community to “loudly recognize” Kyrgyzstan’s economic and political reforms. Speaking at NDI, he called the reform process “inevitable.”

Workshops focused on advocacy, political organizing, identifying local issues of concern, creating consensus and data analysis. 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.

Senator Geraldine Doe-Sheriff's chief of staff presents on behalf of her discussion group during a review of staff roles within personal offices. 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.

Source:  Blue Ridge Times-News Article Link:  Read More Published Date:  05/06/2012 Clark Plexico, a former three-term state senator from Henderson County during the 1990s, serves as NDI country director in Uzbekistan, where he works with government leaders and continues to focus on emerging leaders. During his recent trip to the U.S., Plexico brought along nine political leaders from Uzbekistan to visit Raleigh and Washington, D.C.

Source:  Great Falls Tribune Article Link:  Read More Published Date:  04/29/2012 David Hunter has been a central figure in Montana politics for more than 30 years. For the past two and a half years, Hunter has set aside his political career in Montana to help transitioning democracies around the world craft the rules of legislative procedure, and to work with novice candidates as they learn the basics of conducting a political campaign.

Source:  Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs Article Link:  Read More Published Date:  04/18/2012 Entrenched and often autocratic one-man rule is causing a “democracy deficit” and impeding political development in many African countries, Christopher Fomunyoh, senior associate and regional director for Central and West Africa at NDI, said in congressional testimony April 18.