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En el inicio de la pandemia, muchos países pospusieron las elecciones. Sin embargo, a partir de junio de 2020, hubo un cambio de tendencia y estas comenzaron a celebrarse nuevamente. Gracias al intercambio de información y la colaboración entre pares, las autoridades electorales adquirieron conocimientos sobre los riesgos y las medidas de prevención y de mitigación.

At the start of the pandemic, many countries postponed elections. From June 2020, the trend shifted to holding elections. Thanks to information sharing and peer-to-peer exchanges, election authorities gained an understanding of the risks and prevention/mitigation measures.

This GSoD In Focus aims at providing a brief overview of the state of democracy in Europe at the end of 2019, prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, and then assesses some of the preliminary impacts that the pandemic has had on democracy in the region in the last 10 months.

Key facts and findings include:

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a profound strain on electoral democracy worldwide. Many elections have been postponed, while others have been held with adaptation.

This GSoD In Focus aims at providing a brief overview of the state of democracy in Africa and the Middle East at the end of 2019, prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, and then assesses some of the preliminary impacts that the pandemic has had on democracy in the region in the last 10 months.

Key facts and findings include:

Africa

ADDIS ABABA - The COVID-19 pandemic has regressed key aspects of democracy in Africa and the Middle East, including the disruption of electoral processes, restrictions on civil liberties like freedom of expression, and increasing persecution of opposition leaders and parties. The pandemic has hit the region at a time in which the significant advances of democracy in the last decades were coming to a halt.  

The right to cast a vote in democratic elections stands at the core of people’s political rights. However, for citizens residing abroad the issue is less straightforward. Should people that have made a choice to live in another country still have voting rights in their country of origin? If so, should the state be responsible for facilitating their vote from abroad—or should citizens simply have the option of returning to exercise their right?

The peaceful transfer of power is the very essence of democracy. We strongly condemn the storming and violent occupation of Washington DC’s Capitol by protesters. This is an affront not just to one of the world’s oldest democracies, but to the global cause of democracy.

International IDEA’s Annual Review of Constitution-Building provides a retrospective account of constitutional transitions around the world, the issues that drive them, and their implications for national and international politics.

Money is a necessary component of any democracy: it enables political participation, campaigning and representation. However, if it is not effectively regulated, it can undermine the integrity of political processes and institutions, and jeopardize the quality of democracy. Therefore, regulations related to the funding of political parties and election campaigns, commonly known as political finance, are a critical way to promote integrity, transparency and accountability in any democracy.

Sweden, represented by Mr Robert Rydberg, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and Ambassador Niklas Kebbon, Head of Department for International Law, Human Rights and Treaty Law, handed over the Chairship of International IDEA to the Australian Ambassador to Sweden, Mr Bernard Philip, at the Council of Member States meeting held on 1 December 2020.

This GSoD In Focus provides a brief overview of the global state of democracy at the end of 2019, prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, and assesses some of the preliminary impacts that the pandemic has had on democracy globally in 2020. 

Key findings include: 

El 1 de diciembre de 2020, la sesión del Consejo de Estados Miembros nombró a siete nuevos miembros para la Junta de Asesores por un período de tres años, desde 2021 hasta 2023.

IDEA Internacional se complace en dar la bienvenida a los nuevos miembros de la junta y espera trabajar estrechamente con ellos en los próximos años. A partir del 1 de enero de 2021, la Junta de Asesores de IDEA Internacional incluirá:

On 1 December 2020, the Council of Member States session appointed seven new Members to the Board of Advisers for three-year terms from 2021 to 2023.

As the world watches the United States’ elections unfold, the intensity of our polarization is on display. This election was not marked by apathy. On the contrary—citizens turned out in record numbers, some standing in lines all day, to exercise their franchise with powerful determination and the conviction of their choice.

The Center on International Cooperation (CIC) at New York University has recently published a Briefing by Dr Kevin Casas-Zamora, the Secretary-General of the International IDEA and Sarah Cliffe, CIC, and Nendirmwa Noel.

In celebration of the International Day of Democracy, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), the European Partnership for Democracy, the European Endowment for Democracy, the European Network of Political Foundations and Carnegie Europe co-hosted together with the European Parliament a four-day conference that consisted of a series of online events marked as "International Democracy Week – Overcoming Adversity, Innovating Democracy".

"Election observation" is a term often thrown around too liberally these days.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this commentary are those of the author. This commentary is independent of specific national or political interests. Views expressed do not necessarily represent the institutional position of International IDEA, its Board of Advisers or its Council of Member States.

The right to vote in an election is one essential part of the democratic process. International standards on elections and democratic theorists attest that everyone should be equal before the ballot box. Democracy should be the greater levele