International IDEA today released a Policy Paper titled Effective Party Assistance – Stronger Parties for Better Democracy at an international workshop in Ottawa, Canada.
The Policy Paper argues that political party assistance lacks coherent standards and principles for determining what projects should aim to achieve, how appropriate activities should be identified and how their impact can be measured. Party assistance has been part of international cooperation since the 1950s and has expanded steadily ever since, both in terms of funding and the number of actors involved.
The new International IDEA Policy Paper makes a case for the political party assistance community to agree on common principles covering such critical issues as why activities should take place (needs assessment), how they should be carried out (implementation) and what they should aim to achieve (impact evaluation). The application of such principles would, the Paper argues, make party assistance both more effective and efficient.
“Political parties have moved back into the focus of democracy support, and rightly so” says International IDEA Secretary-General Vidar Helgesen. “Political parties are indispensable for modern representative democracy and often need support in order to fulfil their role within a democratic system.”
The Policy Paper suggests that party assistance needs to focus on the main functions that political parties fulfil within a democratic system, namely:
- Developing consistent policies and government programmes
- Responding to demands emanating from society and articulating them in the form of coherent policies and programmes
- Recruiting, selecting and training people for positions in the executive and legislature
- Exercising effective oversight and control over government.
International IDEA’s initiative on Effective Party Assistance was launched in January 2007 when the international assistance community gathered at International IDEA’s headquarters in Stockholm to discuss weaknesses in the delivery of party assistance. It focuses on developing partnerships with other stakeholders to establish joint principles for political party assistance.
Order print copies or download a digital copy of the Policy Paper at: http://www.idea.int/publications/effective_party_assistance/index.cfm
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