Areas of Expertise

International IDEA supports democracy worldwide and is dedicated to strengthen democratic institutions and processes. It works with governments, UN agencies, regional organizations and others engaged in democracy building at the international, regional, national and local levels.

Ballot boxes © Paul Guerin / International IDEA

Electoral Processes

The design and conduct of elections and referendums are vital to democratic development and are not mere technical events. International IDEA will keep leading the policy shift from event-driven to process-driven electoral support.
Political parties © Paul Guerin / International IDEA

Political Parties

Political parties are the essential mechanisms through which the preferences and desires of citizens can be articulated and presented in legislatures and government. However, regard for political parties is almost universally low. International IDEA works to strengthen political parties as actors of democratization.
Constitution-Building © Arabella Cecil / Panos Pictures

Constitution Building

Constitutions form the core agreement between the state and the citizen. Designing a constitution can lay the foundations for peace and development or can exacerbate existing conflict or plant seeds of conflict. International IDEA looks at why a constitution is much more than just a piece of paper.
Democracy and Gender © International IDEA

Democracy and Gender

While women throughout the world face obstacles to their participation in politics, gender often remains an “add-on” to the democracy-building agenda. International IDEA identifies methods that governments can use to advance equality between women and men in politics.
Citizen Assessment of Democracy © Jørn Stjerneklar /Phoenix Images

State of Democracy

The State of Democracy assessment methodology (SoD) is a tool intended for use by citizens to assess the quality of their democracy, and define priority areas for policy and democratic reform. The network website includes an interactive version of the Democracy Assessment Framework, a collection of Assessments conducted around the world, the home of the Expert Network, as well as interviews, related publications, links and an Ask the Expert feature.
Democracy and Conflict © Leena Rikkilä / International IDEA

Democracy and Conflict

International IDEA seeks to strengthen the ‘conflict management’ capa­city of democratic institutions and processes and to reduce the potential for violent confrontation by including peace building and conflict prevention as objectives of all of its programme activities.