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Democracies across the world – from established to emerging – are facing a new challenge in the rise of online campaigning, and the way in which political actors increasingly spend money in this space. Online campaigning often operates in a space where rules are unclear, malign actors thrive, and regulators struggle to keep up with the rapidly changing digital landscape.
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The first “BRIDGE Train the Facilitator (TtF) Workshop” is taking place in Albania during 4-15 July, under the facilitation of Doina Bordeianu, Zage Filiposki and Corneliu Pasat.
This 9-day training targets 18 staff of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Albania, as well as trainers with expertise in civic education.
Join our online roundtable that aims to contribute to a better understanding of the current and likely future effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on democracies in Armenia, Georgia and Moldova. In addition, the discussion will aim to distill recommendations on how national and international democracy assistance providers should revise their actions in response to this crisis.
The Parliamentary Centre, in collaboration with International IDEA, is organizing a conversation useful for Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and Canadian foreign and development policy thinkers to ensure support for women's political voice, inclusive democratic institutions and human rights remain at the heart of Canada’s COVID-19 response.
This Report delves into the financial aspect of online campaigning, depicting a landscape characterized by lax regulation, the proliferation of malicious actors, and limited oversight capabilities to keep pace with rapid changes. In this sense, the challenges facing Albania are no different from those being tackled across much of the democratic world.
This Discussion Paper reviews the performance of 16 lobbying registers according to 3 interlinked dimensions: (a) transparency; (b) regulatory capacity; and (c) interoperability. Under ‘transparency’, the paper examines the scope of lobbying information collected by the register in question, as well as how that information is administered and subsequently disclosed.
Despite widespread claims that parliamentary systems with an indirectly elected president produce better outcomes for democratic governance, constitutional reform to move away from a directly elected president to an indirectly elected president is extremely rare.
As political campaigning in the lead-up to elections has moved online, parties and candidates have found new and innovative methods for connecting with voters. However, new challenges have multiplied, with the regulation and oversight authorities struggling to keep up. Campaign communications are increasingly opaque online, thus enabling harmful mis- and disinformation to influence electoral narratives.
On 4-5 July, 2023, in Tirana, Albania, International IDEA in cooperation with Rule of Law Centre of Finland and Center Election Commission of Albania hosted the regional roundtable on "Interinstitutional Cooperation on Digitalization of Electoral Processes and Cybersecurity in the Western Balkans".
The European Union’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) covers six countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. The Covid-19 pandemic put a strain on fledgling democracies in the EaP region, aggravating pre-existing concerns, such as the weak rule of law, insufficient accountability of executive branches vis-à-vis legislatures and fragile media freedoms (see International IDEA 2022).
Transparency in politics—in particular with regard to political finance—lies at the core of every democracy. The availability of accessible, detailed information about the funding of political parties and candidates enables scrutiny by civil society organizations and the wider public, and ensures that all political actors can be held accountable.
Armenia, Georgia and Moldova continue to strengthen their democratic systems. Achievements, albeit with many challenges, include improvements to the conduct of elections, increasing the transparency and accountability of government institutions, and maintaining an open civic space for citizens and media to openly debate, question, or challenge their governments.
The number of democracies in the Americas remains the same as two years ago despite the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, most of the democracies in the region demonstrated great resilience in the face of the pandemic. Parliaments, the judiciary and the media of most democracies in the region managed to adapt and continue to exercise their control functions, even in the midst of numerous restrictions that hampered their work.
On 15 August, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for a snap election. This September election, a full two years before the next elections were due, was an opportunistic move. As leader of the Liberal Party, Trudeau had been governing with a plurality (but not a majority) of the seats in the House of Commons since 2019. In the summer of 2021, the Liberal Party was polling well, and the election call was an attempt to translate that polling support into a majority government.
Political parties are the centrepiece of political representation in democratic systems.
The influence of money in politics is a significant threat to democracy, affecting established and emerging democracies alike.
Inadequately controlled flows of money undermine the credibility of elections and the integrity of democratic institutions and processes around the world. Well-designed political finance regulations that are enforceable and anchored in their country’s context play a vital role in ensuring that money is a positive force in politics.