National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) is an organization created by the United States government by way of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) to channel grants for furthering democracy in developing nations.
History and profile
The Institute was founded in 1983, shortly after the U.S. Congress created the National Endowment for Democracy.[1] Taxpayer funding is provided by the Federal Government, both directly from the United States Agency for International Development and the Department of State and indirectly through the National Endowment for Democracy. Additional funds are raised through voluntary donations from foreign governments, multilateral institutions, and private foundations.[2] It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
Under its mission, "NDI provides practical assistance to civic and political leaders advancing democratic values, practices and institutions. NDI works with democrats in every region of the world to build political and civic organizations, safeguard elections, and to promote citizen participation, openness and accountability in government". NDI has worked in 125 different countries and territories since it was created and its six main areas of work are citizen participation, election processes, political parties, women in politics, democracy and technology, and democratic governance.[3]
NDI is loosely associated with the Democratic Party of the United States.[4] However, NDI's programs are nonpartisan, and it works with various democratic and non-violent political parties and civic groups. As stated on its website, "NDI does not presume to impose solutions nor does it believe that one democratic system can be replicated elsewhere. Rather, NDI shares experiences and offers a range of options so that leaders can adapt those practices and institutions that may work best in their own political environment".
Critics charge that the term "democracy assistance" and "democracy building" are rhetorically employed to overpower nationalist and socialist resistance to US economic and cultural domination, particularly in Russia.[5]
NDI Board of Directors & Senior Advisory Committee
The Institute regularly researches and releases reports on global democratic political developments in conjunction with think tanks, NGOs, and civic organizations. It also maintains offices in more than 70 countries in Asia, the former Soviet Union, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Board of Directors
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Senior Advisory Committee
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See also
Notes
- ↑ Idea to Reality: NED at 25
- ↑ Who Supports Our Work
- ↑ About NDI
- ↑ "NDI Brochure". Archived from the original on 2006-10-26. Retrieved 2006-10-30. "NDI's Role as a Political Party Institute NDI is proud to draw on the traditions of the U.S. Democratic Party. While the Institute's identification with the Democratic Party enhances its standing throughout the world, NDI programs are nonpartisan—fostering universal values and supporting democratic processes rather than a particular party or ideology".
- ↑ The Myths of ‘Democracy Assistance’: U.S. Political Intervention in Post-Soviet Eastern Europe, Gerald Sussman, Monthly Review, December 2006.
- ↑ "NDI Board of Directors: Richard Blum". National Democratic Institute. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
Further reading
- Bollen, Kenneth; Paxton, Pamela; Morishima, Rumi (June 2005). "Assessing international evaluations: An example from USAID’s Democracy and Governance Programs" (pdf). American Journal of Evaluation 26 (2): 189–203. doi:10.1177/1098214005275640. Evaluation performed on behalf of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), at the request of and with funding from the Strategic and Operational Research Agenda (SORA) of USAID (Office of Democracy and Governance in the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance), according to the National Research Council (2008, p. 28).
- National Research Council, Committee on Evaluation of USAID Democracy Assistance Programs (2008). Goldstone, Jack A, ed. Improving democracy assistance: Building knowledge through evaluations and research (dimensions 6 x 9 inches). pp. xvi+336. ISBN 978-0-309-11736-4. ISBN 0-309-11736-4; Individuals can download the complete report (pdf format) for private use.