Patrick Merloe, NDI director of electoral programs, testified July 9 before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. Representative Steve Chabot, chairman of the subcommittee, presided over the hearing, “Cambodia’s Looming Political and Social Crisis.”

Other witnesses included John Sifton, director of Asia Advocacy for Human Rights Watch; Evi Schueller, legal consultant for the Cambodian League for the Promotion of Defense of Human Rights; and Daniel Mitchell, chief executive officer and managing director for SRP International Group.

Some 39 countries have signed the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG), created by the African Union (AU) in 2007 as a roadmap to encourage better governance across the continent. It sets out international standards of good governance and democracy in such areas as rule of law, free and fair elections, and condemning unconstitutional changes of government.

Key participants in Chile’s 1988 plebiscite reflect on their experiences working on the campaign that ousted General Augusto Pinochet and marked the country’s return to democracy. This film capsulizes comments made at a screening of the movie “NO” by Genaro Arriagada, former national director of the “NO” Campaign, former Chilean ambassador to the U.S.

After eight years with a government led by the Democratic Party (DP), Albanians voted resoundingly for change in elections on June 23. With counting completed on June 26, the leftist coalition Alliance for a European Albania, led by the Socialist Party (SP), scored a clear victory over the DP-led coalition Alliance for Employment, Welfare and Integration, winning 84 out of 140 seats. Voters will now be looking to the SP-led government to deliver on its campaign promises in the face of an increased demand for accountable and responsive government.