In the face of many global challenges, from climate change to public health and democratic backsliding, an effective government strategy demands the participation of citizens. In particular, democratic parliaments that have embraced open governance understand that people must be at the heart of parliament and that governance must be responsive to citizens.

Approaching the one year anniversary of Russia’s unprovoked and illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainians remain committed to Ukrainian victory and optimistic about the country’s future despite significant hardships. According to NDI polling, 89 percent of Ukrainians report being optimistic about Ukraine’s future, primarily citing Ukraine’s victory as the reason for their optimism. 

At the start of this century, just over 20 years ago, Peru was in the process of deep ‘dekleptification.’  After a decade in power, President Alberto Fujimori and Vladimiro Montesinos, his notorious chief of intelligence services, had fled the country to evade justice. Hundreds of leaked videos– showing Montesinos paying out bribes to political, business and media figures–  made a compelling case for wholescale reform of the country’s institutions. 

In an article written for the U.S. Institute of Peace, NDI Senior Country Director for Nepal Deborah Healy and Program Director for Asia-Pacific Sneha Moktan cover how the latest bout of coalition politics in Nepal glosses over the country’s troubling drift away from democratic principles and toward further political instability.  “[Nepal’s] positive momentum seems to now be staggering, with the same actors from several decades ago largely interested in maintaining a status quo while inflation steadily rises and federalism struggles,” they urge. 

The National Democratic Institute (NDI), in partnership with the International Republican Institute (IRI), produced a House Democracy Partnership (HDP) Global New Member Orientation Manual to support newly elected members of parliament (MPs) and staff in onboarding to the legislature. The manual offers guidance for legislators and staff in their orientation to the legislature, outlining global examples from HDP partner countries and beyond.