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Thailand has made several efforts to reform key aspects of its political finance system, including regulations relating to funding for political parties and election campaigns. Yet, several challenges remain that merit constant improvements and innovation to regulate political finance and put appropriate systems and processes in place to ensure enforcement.

This case study of Timor-Leste (part of the Protecting Elections project) highlights how the institutional capacity of an electoral management body (EMB) to handle risks, challenges and crises can flow from the availability of skilled and experienced staff—rather than just from formal risk management processes.

International IDEA spoke to artist and photographer Mayco Naing on the sidelines of the Australian National University (ANU) Myanmar Update 2023, where she launched her exhibition, “How to quantify FEAR”. 

The Honorable Members and secretarial staff of the National Council of Bhutan attended a weeklong training program aimed at improving the use of public hearings—a formal proceeding designed to receive testimony from all stakeholders—in the house proceedings to improve oversight, scrutiny, and public engagement.

International IDEA and our partner, the Institute for Autonomy and Governance were hono

Victoria held state elections on Saturday 26 November 2022. Six weeks previously, the state had suffered serious floods. 

Democracy is on trial in the climate crisis. It is charged with having failed to prevent dangerous climate change. To its critics, the very same features of democracy praised as its defining virtues—popular sovereignty, the accountability and responsiveness of elected officials, public debate and deliberation—are handicaps that impede effective climate action. However, this trial is not over and it would not be safe to deliver a verdict at this stage.

A conversation between International IDEA's Head of Communications and Knowledge Management, Alistair Scrutton, and the authors of the recently published report "The Constitution and Laws of the Taliban 1994-2001: Hints from the Past and Options for the Future", M. Bashir Mobasher, Shamshad Pasarlay and Mohammad Qadam Shah.

Guests:

Supported by International IDEA, the Parliament of Bhutan and Civil Society Organizations launched a Strategy Document on 4 May 2023 aimed at strengthening democratic governance.

Alison Anitawaru Cole, a lawyer in Aotearoa New Zealand, talks to International IDEA's Regional Communications Officer for the Asia and the Pacific, Billie Phillips, about the unique legal and constitutional responses to climate change in New Zealand and the influence of Māori perspectives on environmentalism and representation. 
 

Democracy organizations co-leads of the youth democracy cohort (International IDEA, The European Partnership for Democracy, the European Youth Network and Africtivistes) call on civil society organisations and other stakeholders around the world to promote youth political participation as a bedrock of the summit for democracy process for the future.

Thirty years on from its initial democratic transition and after several changes of system, Mongolians are still seeking to improve the electoral process by addressing the mechanism for converting votes cast in elections to seats gained in the Great Hural. There is particular interest in mixed systems.

The Summit for Democracy is an initiative headed by the United States Government to discuss how to advance the Summit’s three broad themes: strengthening democracy and defending against authoritarianism; addressing and fighting corruption; and advancing respect for human rights.

It is with deep sorrow and heavy heart that we share the sad news of Dr Bassma Kodmani’s passing. A highly reputed political scientist and a professor of International Relations at Paris University, she was the founder and board member of the Arab Reform Initiative, which she had led as Executive Director.

Fiji has concluded the 2023 elections and the results are in. Although the Melanesian country has achieved the change in power that many had hoped for, the picture is less rosy for women’s representation in parliament.  Could the offensive treatment women politicians received on social media be to blame?

International IDEA’s Youth Democracy Academy is contributing to deeper youth engagement in Fiji’s democratic processes through investing in the country’s young people and their knowledge of democratic institutions processes. 

On 5–6 December 2022, International IDEA gathered 30 leading experts on democracy, anti-corruption and human rights at the inaugural Democracy in Asia and the Pacific Outlook Forum. Representing 23 institutions and organizations from 12 countries, attendees discussed key trends in democracy in the Asia and the Pacific region over the course of seven topical sessions.

View this joint statement in English and Myanmar. 

In a bid to deepen relationships across the Asia-Pacific region, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance’s (International IDEA) Secretary-General Dr Kevin Casas-Zamora met with multiple political, electoral and stakeholder groups in Australia and India during his October 2022 mission to the regional headquarters in Canberra.

International IDEA, with the support from the European Commission, has been contributing to increasing effective evidence-based and coordinated support for democracy across the world through the Supporting Team Europe Democracy (STED) project. Within this project, the Summit for Democracy (S4D) emerged as a unique opportunity to place democracy at the center of the global agenda.