Conducting credible elections in Nigeria will not be easy, but delivering vast improvements over past elections is vital to the country's democratic development, the chairman of Nigeria's independent electoral commission told an audience at NDI on Dec. 6.

In recent years, a debate has emerged among those who view democracy assistance programs as too idealistic and those who view them as too bellicose, conflated with regime change and nation-building, as in Iraq or Afghanistan. In the latest issue of the Harvard International Review, NDI President Kenneth Wollack looks at both sides of the debate and offers a third possibility — that democracy assistance continues to advance U.S.

Noting the flaws in Afghanistan’s electoral system and tensions resulting from allegations of fraud and other irregularities, NDI called for a formal and comprehensive review of the country’s electoral system that would lead to reforms. Unless such actions are taken, public confidence in Afghan elections and governance will continue to erode, the Institute said.