The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) is an intergovernmental organization that supports sustainable democracy worldwide. Its objective is to support sustainable democratic change by providing comparative knowledge, assisting in democratic reforms and influencing policies and politics. It aims to strengthen democratic institutions and processes. IDEA is one of the founding partners of the ACE project as is currently hosting the ACE Interim Secretariat.

International IDEA acts as a catalyst for democracy building by providing knowledge resources, expertise and a platform for debate on democracy issues.  It works together with policymakers, donor governments, UN organizations and agencies, regional organizations and others engaged in democracy building.

What does International IDEA do?

Democracy building is complex and touches on many areas including elections, constitution building, political parties, women's political empowerment and democracy self-assessments. International IDEA is engaged with all of these issues and undertakes its work through three activity areas:

• Providing Comparative Knowledge derived from practical experience on democracy building processes from diverse contexts around the world in the form of  handbooks, databases, websites and  expert networks;
• Assisting Political Actors in reforming democratic institutions and processes, and engaging in these processes when invited to do so;
• Influencing Democracy Building Policies through the provision of comparative knowledge resources and assistance to political actors.

Areas of Expertise

International IDEA supports democracy worldwide and is dedicated to strengthen democratic institutions and processes. It works with governments, UN agencies, regional organizations and others engaged in democracy building at the international, regional, national and local levels. IDEA's areas of expertise are:

• Constitution Building Processes: Constitution building is a key component of democratization and conflict management in divided societies. International IDEA supports inclusive and participatory constitution-building processes that result in nationally owned, sustainable constitutions, sensitive to gender and conflict prevension dimensions.
• Electoral Processes: The design and management of elections has a strong impact on the wider political system. International IDEA seeks to ensure the professional management and independence of elections, adapt electoral systems, and build public confidence in the electoral process.
• Political Parties: Political parties form the essential link between voters and the government. Yet there is widespread dissatisfaction with political parties across the world as they often lack the trust of voters and suffer from institutional problems. International IDEA analyses the functioning of political parties, the public funding of political parties, their management and relations with the public.
• Democracy and Gender:  International IDEA recognises that if democracies are to be truly democratic, women – over half of the world’s population – must be equally represented. International IDEA develops comparative resources and tools designed to advance the participation and representation of women in political life.
• Democracy Assessments: Democratization is a national process. IDEA’s State of Democracy Methodology allows people to assess the quality of their democracy and define priority areas for policy and democratic reform.
• Elections and Conflict: Democracy often provides the means for the peaceful management of different and competing group claims. IDEA seeks to strengthen the ‘conflict management’ capa­city of democratic institutions and processes and to reduce the potential for violent confrontation by including peace building and conflict prevention as objectives of all of our programme activities.

Where does International IDEA work?

 International IDEA works worldwide. It is based in Stockholm, Sweden, and has offices in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Who are the member states of International IDEA?
International IDEA has 25 member states: Australia, Barbados, Belgium, Botswana, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ghana, India, Mauritius, Mexico, Namibia, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Uruguay. Japan has observer status.  

Contact information:

International IDEA, Strömsborg,

SE-103 34 Stockholm, Sweden
Phone: +46 8 698 37 00, Fax: +46 8 20 24 22
E-mail: info@idea.int, Website: www.idea.int