Political Parties

Latin American Party Leaders in Lima Identify Reform Agenda

In spite of significant democratic advances, citizens across Latin America are dissatisfied with the performance of democratic institutions and elected officials. Corruption, insecurity, inequality, and lack of economic opportunity and avenues to participate in public life have fueled protests across the region.

Getting Closer to Citizens: A Manual on Outreach for Elected Officials

This manual captures the lessons learned and best practices for constituency outreach, based on the experience of the 14 Moroccan members of parliament and their assistants who were trained by the National Democratic Institute.

Moroccan Elected Officials Share Best Practices for Constituency Outreach in New NDI Guide

Morocco’s hierarchical political culture has not traditionally encouraged members of parliament (MPs) to engage with citizens about their priorities. Nor do citizens have much experience or confidence in raising concerns with their elected officials. This constituent gap has undermined the development of more representative and responsive government in Morocco.

Youth Academies Prepare a Generation of Honduran Democratic Leaders

Roberto Mena wasn’t exactly sure what the Youth Leadership Academy was, but he knew he wanted to be a part of it.

A 26-year-old Honduran from the state of Cortes, Mena is an active participant in local politics. In fact, politics runs in his family, which includes political leaders who founded a local chapter of the Anti-Corruption Party (Partido Anti-Corrupcion, PAC), an opposition party that emerged from the political crisis following the 2009 coup d’etat against the Manuel Zelaya government.

With Democracy at Risk in the Balkans, Political Leaders Look in the Mirror

The Balkans are experiencing a fair share of instability these days. External factors—the refugee influx, the Eurozone crisis, Russian economic and political influence, and a pre-occupied European Union—are contributing to uncertainty about political stability and the region’s prospects for joining the European Union. Domestic political conflicts, both inter-ethnic and partisan, suggest that countries in southeastern Europe have some distance to go in becoming stable democracies.

Facebook and PeaceTech Lab Join NDI at Launch of Arabic-Language E-Learning Platform

This week, NDI launched its new Arabic-language e-learning and training platform TaalamSharek.org, or “learn-engage” in English. Redesigned with support from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), this platform, which is also designed to be used on mobile phones, represents a new era in online engagement with and among democracy advocates in the Middle East and North Africa.

Stepdown Training Toolkit on Legislative Engagement

This toolkit provides information and reference materials the National Democratic Institute (NDI) has used in conducting a series of legislative advocacy/engagement workshops in Liberia under its Building Citizen Centered Political Engagement program funded by the Embassy of Sweden (EOS). This toolkit provides reference and support materials, and allows its users to organize similar trainings to assist civil society groups and to lobby and advocate with individual lawmakers and the legislature as a whole on issues of importance to citizens.

NDI Poll: Iraq’s Road to Reconciliation - October 2015

NDI recently conducted 22 in-depth interviews with tribal, religious, community, and demonstration leaders in Iraq on the topic of political reconciliation, and a nation-wide public opinion survey. NDI’s research was conducted in partnership with Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and funded by the U.K. Foreign Commonwealth Office.

Political Leaders Share Coalition Best Practices in New Publication

Political parties around the world form coalitions for many reasons: to improve electoral prospects, to form a majority for government or to usher their countries through periods of crisis. In a new NDI and Oslo Center publication, experienced political leaders who have worked in coalitions in their own countries share their perspectives on how to make coalition-building efforts successful.

Coalitions: A Guide for Political Parties

In partnership with the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights, NDI has developed a guide to best practices in coalition-building. The publication outlines tips and practical advice for political party officials as they negotiate and work in different types of coalitions.