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.
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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.
During a crisis such as a public emergency, the effectiveness of parliaments should be assessed by considering their ability to activate in a timely manner the necessary disaster management legislative framework, and to provide oversight to ensure that such legislation is applied by the executive in a necessary, non-discriminatory and proportional way.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, numerous countries invoked different constitutional provisions and laws to respond to the unexpected health crisis. Constitutional INSIGHTS No. 6 examines the use and non-use of state of emergency powers by countries across Asia and the Pacific in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the implications for other democratic rights and processes.
Countries with a federal form of government responded in distinctive ways to the health and economic crises caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Constitutional INSIGHTS No.7 explores what can be learned from this experience about the purposes, design and operation of federations, including for the division and allocation of powers and fiscal resources; collaboration and cooperation between levels of government; and the challenges of democratic accountability.
The Covid-19 pandemic has seen the marked centralization and exertion of executive power, and, more broadly, a focus on the response of other elected organs. However, the pandemic has also shone a light on the key roles played by unelected independent institutions and international bodies, from public health actors to courts to international organizations and beyond. Constitutional INSIGHTS No.
International IDEA’s Annual Review of Constitution-Building provides a retrospective account of constitutional transitions around the world, the issues that drive them, and their implications for national and international politics.
As the COVID-19 crisis worsens, its impact on the democratic development of African countries is becoming a key issue and a priority. Much attention has
been paid to the question of the pandemic’s consequences for electoral processes, constitutionalism and the rule of law. With very few exceptions, its
impact on transitional justice and social cohesion (re)construction processes in the countries of Africa has received relatively less attention.
Elections are complex undertakings. Regardless of where they take place, election management bodies (EMBs) face numerous risks in organizing them.
These risks are linked to the legal, operational, technical, political and security aspects of electoral processes. When risks become certainties, the consequences can be serious in both well-established and transitional democracies.
All political parties need funding to play their part in the political process, yet the role of money in politics is arguably the biggest threat to democracy today.
Gender quotas are numerical targets that stipulate the number or percentage of women that must be included in a candidate list or the number of seats to be allocated to women in a legislature. They aim to reverse discrimination in law and practice and to level the playing field for women and men in politics.