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As the online space is increasingly the go-to spot for political campaigning, political parties and candidates have new methods to connect with citizens and communicate their policy priorities. However, the rules for political advertising established offline have been found to be insufficient in the online sphere. Online advertising tools are also used for manipulation campaigns that threaten the integrity of our elections.

Elections often have to be held in emergency situations. The Covid-19 pandemic was one of the most serious emergency situations that the world has seen. The rapid spread of the virus presented a huge humanitarian threat—but also an unparalleled challenge to electoral stakeholders globally seeking to protect electoral integrity during times of uncertainty.

STOCKHOLM, May 8 – Electoral reforms should be undertaken worldwide to learn the lessons from holding elections during the pandemic and prepare for future emergency situations, leading researchers have said in a new book.

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) and the Electoral Integrity Project (EIP) have published a new extensive volume learning the lessons of holding elections during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

There is a rise in social protests globally due to dissatisfaction with governance, and women and youth often lead these protests. Governments respond to social protests with different tactics and methods, and some may engage in constitutional change to address the social unrest.

The pre-summit for democracy forum, held in Lusaka, Zambia on the 27 and 28 of March 2023, aimed to facilitate the contextualization and localization of S4D2 conversations. The pre-summit provided a platform for African Civil society actors to connect, jointly reflect on various elements of elections in Africa, and input into S4D2 commitments from civil society and citizens' perspectives.

This paper provides an overview of the purpose, work and outputs of the 16 Democracy Cohorts established or announced by February 2023 in the context of the Summit for Democracy organized by the US Government.

The main contribution of the Democracy Cohorts to the Summit for Democracy process is as key drivers of change by following up on and scaling up existing commitments, and establishing a vision for democratic renewal beyond the Second Summit.

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.

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.

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.

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.

No parliament in the world is fully gender-sensitive. Women and gender-diverse people are relatively recent arrivals into political life, so many parliamentary institutions have developed without respect for their needs and experiences. This has led to discriminatory and exclusionary cultures, practices, and outcomes, many of which are unintentional.

Women in politics face biased, sexist, and discriminatory media treatment. 

A recent major media investigation exposed a team of private contractors in Israel who allegedly interfered several elections in other countries by mobilizing disinformation campaigns. The incident has yet again highlighted the sophisticated techniques of election manipulation in the digital age.

Owen Gaffney talks to International IDEA's Head of Communications, Alistair Scrutton about climate change, sustainability and the future of our planet, joining a lot of dotted lines between politics, technology and science.

Some observations from updating the Voter Turnout Database in 2022.

International IDEA and the European Commission co-hosted a hybrid event on 13 December 2022, ‘Beyond the Summit for Democracy, opportunities and the way forward’. The first Summit for Democracy (S4D) and Year of Action put the spotlight on democracy at a critical time, it engaged leaders to formulate domestic and external commitments on democracy and human rights.

Canadá, representada por Jason LaTorre, embajador de Canadá en Suecia, entregó la Presidencia de IDEA Internacional a los Países Bajos, representados por Bengt van Loosdrecht, embajador de los Países Bajos en Suecia, en la reunión del Consejo de Estados Miembros celebrada el 1 de diciembre de 2022 en la sede de IDEA Internacional en Estocolmo y en línea.

Federalism is a constitutional mechanism for dividing responsibilities between different levels of government in a country. It grants constituent units (i.e. substate territorial entities that may be called states, regions, provinces, Länder or cantons) a certain degree of autonomy (or self-rule) in regulating some policy areas.

Vote buying is an electoral campaign violation that occurs in many countries, which undermines the integrity of elections and is detrimental to democratic governance. Many factors beyond electoral politics drive vote buying. Such factors influence the ‘supply side’ (political actors’ decisions to engage in vote buying), the ‘demand side’ (voters’ willingness to participate in vote buying) or both.