In Morocco, citizens rarely have the opportunity to interact with their members of parliament (MPs), particularly outside of election season. This is partly because the Moroccan parliament does not have an established tradition of citizen outreach, nor does it provide MPs with guidance or resources on how to communicate with constituents.

“There is a big difference between the working environment of MPs in the United Kingdom and Morocco. In the UK, parliament provides MPs with everything they need to perform their representative role,” said MP Naima Rebbaa.

In many countries around the world, citizens have embraced social media and new technology more rapidly than legislatures—which are, by their nature, often tradition-bound institutions. Helping elected leaders rethink approaches to citizen engagement in the digital age was a central theme of a 10-day parliamentary exchange on “Leadership in the Digital Economy” co-organized by NDI.

A new blog, written by NDI staff, tells the inspiring stories of citizens and organizations doing the challenging work of building democracy around the world.

As the Syrian civil war heads into its fourth year, formal government institutions are no longer present across much of the country. The responsibility for community services, such as health care, education and humanitarian assistance, has fallen upon newly-elected local councils or other decision makers not affiliated with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

In remote and mountainous regions of Nepal, news comes slowly and it can take days to travel short distances. These conditions pose numerous challenges, including making voting problematic, both because it’s difficult to register and because voter education is limited. 

As more citizens turn to the Internet to engage in political activity, elected representatives are finding new ways to communicate with constituents and engage them in decision-making.