Gender-based violence and the inadequate representation of women in civic and political life continue to be key problems in Afghanistan. This helpdesk research report explores initiatives aimed at countering gender-based violence and empowering women’s voices. Information on the role of the legal system in Afghanistan - particularly sharia and customary law, is also ...» more
Democracy & elections
Cross-party Caucuses
Caucuses are widely believed to be important forums for bringing parliamentarians together across political party lines – so that they may share information, discuss policy issues, channel common interests and concerns, and engage civil society. Some women’s caucuses have been noted for their unique approach towards fostering good governance. In some conflict contexts, caucuses ...» more
Religion and Democracy in Secular States
The literature notes that various approaches have been adopted by democracies in dealing with the relationship between religion and the state. These range from excluding religion as a political force altogether (such as in Turkey); to constitutionally privatising religion (such as in France and the US); through to recognising the communal nature of religion (such as in Israel). ...» more
Lessons Learned on Parliamentary Strengthening
Several agencies have recently conducted stocktakes, retrospectives or reviews of their parliamentary strengthening programmes at agency-level. By far the most common lesson/recommendation relates to the necessity of understanding and adapting to the political context within which parliament is situated and undertaking good political analysis in the planning phase. Several ...» more
Donor Activity on Parliamentary Strengthening and Electoral Support
Parliamentary strengthening is becoming an increasingly important part of governance work in international development, and many bilateral, multilateral, and non-governmental organisations (including political parties) are involved in parliamentary strengthening. According to a recent ODI study, the World Bank Institute, the Parliamentary Centre (Canada), United Nations ...» more
M&E of Parliamentary Strengthening and Electoral Support Programmes
Parliamentary stengthening: Attempts to assess the effectiveness of parliamentary strengthening programmes need to go beyond monitoring changes within parliament, to measuring changes in parliament’s influence on government. Moreover, the political nature of legislatures, the particular types of functions for which they are responsible, and the constant evolution in membership ...» more
Gender Equality in Parliamentary Strengthening and Electoral Support
Many countries around the world have recognised the under-representation of women in politics and started to adopt measures to help women enter politics and national legislatures. However, most of the research to date has focussed on explaining the process of women’s entry into politics, rather than whether and how they can make a difference once they enter parliament.Some of ...» more
Election-related Conflict
Election-related conflict or violence can occur at any stage of the electoral process – from pre-election registration, candidate nomination and campaigning to election day balloting to post-election results. Although election-related conflict is an under-researched area, there is a small body of literature that addresses its potential causes and methods of prevention and ...» more
Poverty Reduction Actors in the MENA Region
Development actors in the MENA region have been the subject of scholarly attention for some years. This report prioritises literature from 2000 onwards. Much of the recent literature seems to focus on the role of Islamic organisations. Many analysts highlight the large number of these that are already operational in many countries of the region, mostly providing services to ...» more
Electoral Assistance Lessons
Since the 1990s, there has been a movement away from viewing elections and electoral assistance as one-off events, towards viewing them as an integral component of democratic transition and governance. Much of the literature notes that whilst electoral assistance has generally been successful in establishing and promoting the technical aspects of elections, such technical ...» more
Multi-donor Funding for Elections in Fragile States
Basket funds have to date often been administered by UNDP, as was the case in Congo, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Togo. The main activities they have supported have been: technical assistance to the Electoral Management Body (EMB), voter registration, voter education, election monitoring, and support for civil society. Basket funds usually operate with a two-tiered ...» more
Political Party Financing
The methods of party financing used in Africa are primarily individual donations (membership fees and fundraising); private sector donations (corporate contributions); public funding (cash subsidies, in-kind or indirect assistance); and foreign donations (foreign governments, diaspora communities).There are advantages and disadvantages to each. In general, it is considered ...» more
Constitutions and minorities
Whilst there is a large body of literature that focuses generally on participation in constitution-making processes and handling diversity of opinion, no resources were found that exclusively discussed effective inclusion of minority groups. However, practical recommendations for promoting the inclusion of minority groups include the following:Create an independent commission ...» more
Communist Government in Kerala, India
This query discusses the experiences of the Communist Party of India, Marxist (CPM) in India – specifically in the states of Kerala and West Bengal.It is widely argued that almost continuous communist rule in Kerala since 1957 has produced both order and some success in alleviating poverty, despite facing some considerable challenges to its government. The CPM has used its ...» more
Politics of Justice Sector Reform
There are a wealth of case studies available that discuss the impact of politics on justice reform, with less available on how justice reform impacts politics. Most of the resources identified demonstrate how the macro-political environment impacts on the justice sector or explore political dynamics within the sector that affect reform. Less material was found that discusses ...» more
Literature on Yemen
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Quotas for Women’s Representation in Africa
The success of quota systems in many African countries is largely attributed to: strong and active women’s movements; regional bodies such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) that have adopted gender balanced representation and set quota targets for member countries; and opportunities in post-conflict and transition societies, which allowed for advances in ...» more
Underdevelopment and Radicalisation in Bangladesh
While some experts cite poverty as a contributing factor to radicalisation, the vast majority of experts and the literature focus more on political underdevelopment and poor governance; rampant violence, criminality and corruption; non-state service provision by Islamist groups, particularly in education with the expansion of madrassas (religious schools); and the lack of ...» more
Political Economy Methodologies
Traditional concepts of political economy have focused on top down, macro-level approaches that examine institutions and its rules. More recently, ‘institutional economics’ and other methodologies have emphasised the need for a bottom up, micro-level, ‘game theory’ approach that looks at individual interactions and individual incentives to follow institutional rules. This is of ...» more
Drivers of Extremism
There is little consensus on what the key drivers of radicalisation and extremism are. Some scholars and policy-makers argue that an absence of participatory democracy and a legitimate arena to channel discontent contributes to extremism. However, others have found no causal connection between authoritarianism and extremism. A common finding in the literature is that while ...» more
