Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy
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Democracy: testimonies of a work in progress
This publication contains a collection of eight stories by NIMD partners who, in their own words, provide an account of the results that they have achieved with support of NIMD in 2008.
The stories are organised around some key policy concepts that inform contemporary debates on international cooperation. Accordingly, each story is both a living example of the work that we support, and a testimony to the policies which we believe are required to achieve effective international political cooperation.
Without more accountable governments and better performing political systems, the international endeavour to deliver on the Millenium Development Goals is destined to fail. Facilitating the political reforms necessary to make democracies perform better is NIMD’s core business.
Since the elections of 2007, quite a few political parties have formed parliamentary groups. In some cases these coalitions are evolving in plans to merge.
Only in a democracy, can leaders be held accountable for the way they use their power through a system of both formal (e.g. legislation) and informal (e.g. publicity) checks and balances.
NIMD’s approach to democracy support is exemplified by the Democratic Consolidation Strategy Paper (DCSP) of the political parties in Ghana.
One of the lessons learned from the Democracy School programme in Indonesia is that political education helps enable a new generation of politicians to bridge divides between politics and society.
In the aftermath of election violence in 2008 NIMD’s Kenyan partner, the Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD-K) created the Building Bridges of Understanding project. It aims to promote understanding between different ethnic communities through community exchange visits and dialogue.
Democratic development does not comply to a singular template that can be readily exported. It is an incremental process that needs to grow from within. In this context NIMD has learned that exchanges with peers from other countries are valuable. They contribute to comparison of political practices,
In the run up to the parliamentary elections in May 2008, the NIMD programme in Georgia has helped political parties define their programmes, using VoteMatch, an online voting tool developed by the Dutch Institute for Political Participation.
In 2008 NIMD helped launch the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD), an organization founded by some fifteen civil society organizations, that aims to harmonize democracy support initiatives within the European Union.
