Nepali citizens opt for political reform
The largest survey ever done in Nepal – on democracy (summary) – shows that Nepalis believe in the concept of democracy. “In general, people are disillusioned with Nepal's political parties, the monarchy and Maoists, but they still have hopes for democracy”, noted Leena Rikkilä, project coordinator for Nepal. Conducted 6 August-20 September under the supervision of Krishna Hachhethu of Tribuhuvan University in Kathmandu, the report analyzes the responses of 3,249 respondents. The survey was released 4 November and sponsored by IDEA and the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi, India. Read more
European quota experiences examined at Budapest workshop
Some 55 European researchers and practitioners gathered in Budapest, Hungary, to discuss ‘The Implementation of Quotas: Experiences from Europe’ – a workshop co-hosted by IDEA and local partner CEE Network for Gender Issues. Among the conclusions the workshop produced, participants agreed that the role of political parties is crucial to increased representation of women in politics. Read more
Training trainers, gathering feedback: part of IDEA’s elections work in Africa
A strong and independent electoral administration is critical to a robust democratic system. One of the central components is to support capacity-building of election management bodies (EMB). In Africa, IDEA held three courses for electoral administrators – in English, French and Portuguese – in 2004. The activities built upon IDEA’s Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections programme. IDEA also participated in the West African EMB September conference in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, where some 70 delegates endorsed IDEA’s mapping exercise on electoral assistance for the Economic Community of West African States. Read more
Experts discuss challenges of constitution-building processes
International experts met at IDEA’s headquarters in Stockholm on 12 October to discuss ‘The Role of Constitution-Building Processes in Democratization’. The event focused on the needs at national level for constitution-building processes (CBP) and the key challenges for the international community in providing assistance to CBP. The October meeting builds upon IDEA’s CBP project, which was launched in March 2004. Read more
Reaching out to Latin American women in politics
Pursuing its programme of more inclusive democracy in Latin America, IDEA co-sponsored three workshops in October and November aimed at promoting women’s political participation. “Events like these are critical to promoting women’s political leadership”, said Kristen Sample, director of IDEA’s Peru programme. “When leaders gather to talk about the issues and challenges they face, their brainstorming usually produces good solutions. IDEA is happy to play a facilitating role in bringing these people together”. Read more
IDEA to European Commission: Election support must be a long-term strategy
Andrew Ellis, head of IDEA’s election processes team, presented IDEA’s experiences on electoral assistance at the conference of the European Commission’s 28-29 September conference in Brussels, ‘Election Support: Achievements and Challenges’. He stressed that donors in the European Union should regard election support as a long-term strategy, rather than an event-driven, last-minute process. His 10-step recommendations were part of a paper he presented to a working group on election assistance. Read more
Democracy trends in Latin America
In Latin America, Congress and political parties are the democratic institutions that have lost the most citizen trust in recent years. Surveys by Latinobarómetro between 1996 and 2004 indicate that the main problems of political systems may be classified as crises of leadership, governance, representation and participation, institutional weakness and inadequate levels of transparency and accountability. In turn, these problems have led to weak governments unable to reach consensus or the parliamentary majorities required to implement general policies or promote reform processes. More information is available in Latin America 2004-2005: Current Situation and Trends, produced by IDEA’s Latin America programme office.
Swedes discuss democracy building in Indonesia, issues facing democratic reformers
Andrew Ellis, head of IDEA’s election processes team, spoke about Indonesian democracy building to 150 students and international affairs experts at Stockholm University on 13 October. The seminar, ‘Democracy in Indonesia: Hopes, Challenges and Obstacles’, was sponsored by the Student International Affairs Group of Stockholm University and the Indonesian Embassy in Sweden. Mr Ellis also spoke at a roundtable in Stockholm. Entitled ‘Challenges to Democratic Governance’, the 7 October event was organised by the Political Science Department of the University of Stockholm in cooperation with IDEA, the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sida, the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation and the Swedish Institute of International Affairs on the occasion of the Stockholm meeting of the International Political Science Association.
 |
- When it needed a crash course in electoral processes in the Middle East, the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs turned to IDEA’s Therese Pearce Laanela and Nadia Handal Zandar. The two spoke with the staff of the Middle East and North Africa Department in November about IDEA’s work in the Arab world and the role the international community can play. They also answered questions regarding elections and democratization efforts in Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Palestine.
- IDEA’s Indonesian office operates a specialized Web site on women in politics, available both in Indonesian and English.
- The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa released a continent-wide survey of 28 African countries in October – Striving for Good Governance in Africa: 2005 Africa Governance Report – for the Africa Governance Forum IV held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The survey evaluated progress toward good governance in Africa. A network of expert organizations contributed to the development of the research instruments used for the survey. IDEA’s State of Democracy assessment methodology formed the basis of IDEA’s input in the process.
- To commemorate the one-year anniversary of Peru’s Political Party Law on 31 October, IDEA-Peru distributed a brochure to 2,000 representatives of government agencies, civil society organizations and the media. The bulletin details implementation status of the law. IDEA and its partners, Transparencia and the Congressional Constitution Commission played a key role in bringing concerned parties together and building a consensus, which led to the adoption of the law.
