Political Parties

Tunisian Youth Focus on Building Blocks of Party Organizing

After playing a leading role in the 2011 protest movement that launched the Arab Spring, Tunisian youth are now trying to find their place in the country’s political parties. They have been active in party organizing and are eager for more responsibility ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections anticipated for late this year.

Serbia's March 2014 Elections: A Post-Election Letter from Belgrade

In early parliamentary elections held on March 16, Serbia’s voters handed the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) a sweeping mandate to continue the pro-European integration program it began implementing in 2012 when it succeeded incumbent president Boris Tadic and the Democratic Party’s (DS) long tenure in government.

International Seminar Prepares Hondurans for Electoral Reform

A record number of Hondurans went to the polls last November to vote in hotly contested presidential, legislative and municipal elections. For the first time in Honduras’ traditionally two-party system, four parties presented viable presidential candidates and won significant percentages of the popular vote, both for the presidency and congressional seats.

Serbia’s March 2014 Elections: A Post-Election Letter from Belgrade

CAR President Catherine Samba-Panza Inspires Congolese Women Politicians

In Sub-Saharan Africa, where women hold just 23 percent of the seats in national parliaments and there are only three women heads of state, Catherine Samba-Panza, president of the Central African Republic (CAR), is an inspirational figure. Her position as the first female president of a Francophone country is a powerful symbol for African women, showing they can succeed even in countries where armed conflict, corruption and inequality have been the norm.

NDI 30th Anniversary Report

In honor of its three decades supporting those who share a common desire to live in free societies that recognize basic human rights, NDI has published a 30th anniversary report highlighting its work in nearly every corner of every continent to advance the promise of democracy.

Empowering Women for Stronger Political Parties: A Good Practices Guide to Promote Women's Political Participation (Now available in Burmese)

Minimum Standards for the Democratic Functioning of Political Parties (Now available in Portuguese)

Regardless of ideology, location or size, political parties seeking to make their practices more inclusive and to institutionalize their operations will benefit from this manual, which assembles the best practices of a range of established and broadly democratic political parties.

المعايير الدنيا لعمل الأحزاب السياسية الديمقراطي

الناشر: منشورات المعهد الديمقراطي الوطني.

A ‘Head Start’ for Women Mayors and Councilors in Nicaragua

A revision to Nicaragua’s law on municipal elections last year required political parties to put up equal numbers of women and men as candidates for mayor and city council. It also increased the number of city council seats in each municipality. The result has been more women than ever winning races for mayor and city council.

One of them was Antonia Rizo, a city councilor in San Sebastian de Yal. “When I arrived at my position, I was afraid to speak,” she said, because of lack of familiarity with the city’s legal system.

And she was not alone.