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The 'Digital Campaigning and Political Finance in the Asia and the Pacific Region report' authored by Professor Joo-Cheong Tham (Director, Electoral Regulation Research Network), Professor Andrea Carson (Department of Politics, Media and Philosophy, La Trobe University), Amy Chinnappa (Lawyer and Policy Consultant), and Adhy Aman (Senior Programme Manager, International IDEA) will be launched on Tuesday 25 October at Melbourn
Join our online roundtable that aims to contribute to a better understanding of the current and likely future effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on democracies in Armenia, Georgia and Moldova. In addition, the discussion will aim to distill recommendations on how national and international democracy assistance providers should revise their actions in response to this crisis.
The Parliamentary Centre, in collaboration with International IDEA, is organizing a conversation useful for Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and Canadian foreign and development policy thinkers to ensure support for women's political voice, inclusive democratic institutions and human rights remain at the heart of Canada’s COVID-19 response.
This Discussion Paper reviews the performance of 16 lobbying registers according to 3 interlinked dimensions: (a) transparency; (b) regulatory capacity; and (c) interoperability. Under ‘transparency’, the paper examines the scope of lobbying information collected by the register in question, as well as how that information is administered and subsequently disclosed.
Despite widespread claims that parliamentary systems with an indirectly elected president produce better outcomes for democratic governance, constitutional reform to move away from a directly elected president to an indirectly elected president is extremely rare.
As political campaigning in the lead-up to elections has moved online, parties and candidates have found new and innovative methods for connecting with voters. However, new challenges have multiplied, with the regulation and oversight authorities struggling to keep up. Campaign communications are increasingly opaque online, thus enabling harmful mis- and disinformation to influence electoral narratives.
Victoria held state elections on Saturday 26 November 2022. Six weeks previously, the state had suffered serious floods.
Democracy is on trial in the climate crisis. It is charged with having failed to prevent dangerous climate change. To its critics, the very same features of democracy praised as its defining virtues—popular sovereignty, the accountability and responsiveness of elected officials, public debate and deliberation—are handicaps that impede effective climate action. However, this trial is not over and it would not be safe to deliver a verdict at this stage.
La Oficina Electoral de Fiji (OFE) y el Instituto Internacional para la Democracia y Asistencia Electoral (IDEA Internacional) firmaron conjuntamente un Memorando de Entendimiento (MoU) en Canberra, Australia y Suva, Fiji, el jueves 25 de mayo de 2023 que restablece los lazos entre las organizaciones.
Calls to enfranchise people as young as sixteen are growing around the world, with some countries already adjusting the vote to align with the national age of employment, taxation, and military service.
In Australia, common consensus is lagging but some experts believe it is only a matter of time. From the sidelines of the Australian National University’s APSA conference, Billie Phillips spoke to Professor Lisa Hill about the growing movement.
In a bid to deepen relationships across the Asia-Pacific region, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance’s (International IDEA) Secretary-General Dr Kevin Casas-Zamora met with multiple political, electoral and stakeholder groups in Australia and India during his October 2022 mission to the regional headquarters in Canberra.
The European Union’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) covers six countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. The Covid-19 pandemic put a strain on fledgling democracies in the EaP region, aggravating pre-existing concerns, such as the weak rule of law, insufficient accountability of executive branches vis-à-vis legislatures and fragile media freedoms (see International IDEA 2022).
At home in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia lives alongside some of the world's most populous and diverse democracies. As we all emerge from two years of acute COVID-19 restrictions, some things look a little different in our neighbourhood.
Successive Australian governments, for many years now, have not had an explicit policy for fostering and promoting democracy. One is needed, now more than ever.
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the institutional position of International IDEA, its Board of Advisers or its Council of Member States.
Armenia, Georgia and Moldova continue to strengthen their democratic systems. Achievements, albeit with many challenges, include improvements to the conduct of elections, increasing the transparency and accountability of government institutions, and maintaining an open civic space for citizens and media to openly debate, question, or challenge their governments.
Against a background of deteriorating informational environments, falling trust in state institutions and growing electoral result disputation, electoral processes and those who administer them are increasingly being placed under the microscope.
The number of democracies in the Americas remains the same as two years ago despite the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, most of the democracies in the region demonstrated great resilience in the face of the pandemic. Parliaments, the judiciary and the media of most democracies in the region managed to adapt and continue to exercise their control functions, even in the midst of numerous restrictions that hampered their work.
On 15 August, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for a snap election. This September election, a full two years before the next elections were due, was an opportunistic move. As leader of the Liberal Party, Trudeau had been governing with a plurality (but not a majority) of the seats in the House of Commons since 2019. In the summer of 2021, the Liberal Party was polling well, and the election call was an attempt to translate that polling support into a majority government.