By building systematic, comparative knowledge on political parties, International IDEA aims to explore the possibility of strengthening the institutional arrangements that make parties more effective players in the political system. Although parties are part of our daily discussion, there is little systematic knowledge of how they are regulated and how they function internally in different countries. There is very little known about the operational problems they face and seldom think of the challenges they face in the present and in the future. The objective of this International IDEA Programme of Research and Dialogue with Political Parties is to contribute to an environment that is conducive to the development of political parties, and thereby to contribute to democracy.
Research on parties so far has not led to the construction of any single ‘ideal’ type of political party, and it may not be possible to do so. The aim is therefore not to work out a universally ideal model of a political party, but to examine and collate information on the extraordinary variety of parties that function in different political systems of the world. The results of the study may help parties identify and exchange good practices and learn from one another.
This research for this report was conducted in 13 countries—Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
The research was made possible by the participation of the following regional institutions and partners:
- Centre pour la Gouvernance Démocratique (CDG), Burkina Faso (for francophone West Africa)
- The Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Accra, Ghana (for anglophone West Africa)
- The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD-Nigeria)
This study is a part of a series of studies undertaken by International IDEA focusing on the political parties in specific regions. In Africa the studies cover West Africa, Southern Africa and East Africa.
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