Wafa Bani Mustafa had already won a seat in Jordan’s parliament. But as she prepared to run for reelection, she wanted to learn more about fundraising techniques, which are not widely used in the region. So last December, ahead of her campaign, she participated in an NDI training program on advanced campaign skills for experienced politicians from 11 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Following the one-year anniversary of Tunisia’s elections for its National Constituent Assembly (NCA) – the first polls of the Arab Spring – citizens are frustrated by political infighting and the lack of progress on key political and economic issues, according to a new round of NDI focus group research.

For those who have never experienced a freewheeling political campaign, the raucousness of an American election season can be inspiring and overwhelming. Talking is incessant in rooms of phone bank volunteers searching for votes, energetic political party members go door to door in last minute appeals for support and candidates talk nonstop in the countdown to election day.

A delegation of young political party representatives from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia are visiting the United States this week on a study mission to observe the U.S electoral process, and particularly the role of youth, with the goal of gathering information on techniques they can bring back and adapt in their home countries.