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2023-08-03
National Democratic Institute;
As misinformation and polarization increase, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) faces new challenges in its support for electoral integrity, party development, democratic governance, and citizen participation. Our Global Design, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (G-DMEL) team, in partnership with NDI's Côte d'Ivoire program, aimed to answer the following question: What kinds of democracy interventions - separately or in combination – can impact online misinformation uptake and dissemination among youth, and reduce affective polarizations across partisan divides? With funding from the NED and in collaboration with leading academic researchers from Evidence in Governance And Politics (EGAP), NDI experimentally tested the impacts of four types of intervention hypotheses: one based on capacity building (training on digital literacy) and three designed to mitigate socio-political motivations to consume and disseminate misinformation. The findings revealed that traditional digital literacy interventions alone did not change youth capacity to identify misinformation, nor their behavior in knowingly sharing misinformation. Surprisingly, social identity interventions did have impacts, but in unexpected directions. These critical insights are paving the way for NDI to rethink strategies to combat misinformation in highly polarized environments.
2023-07-03
New America;
Political parties are the central institutions of modern representative democracy. They must also be at the center of efforts to reform American democracy. To redirect and realign the downward trajectory of our politics, we must focus on political parties. We need them to do better. And in order to create better parties, we need more parties.This paper makes the case for pro-parties reform both generally, and then for two specific reforms that would center parties: fusion voting and proportional representation. Fusion voting allows for multiple parties to endorse the same candidate, encouraging new party formation. Proportional representation ends the single-member district, making it possible for multiple parties to win seats in larger, multi-member districts, in proportion to their popular support. The goal of these reforms—fusion in the short and medium term and proportional representation in the long term—is to move us toward a more representative, effective, and resilient democracy for the twenty-first century.
2023-03-13
National Democratic Institute;
This paper is the result of a scenario-building exercise that NDI conducted in October and November 2022 with African, American and European analysts. Through the exercise, NDI sought to better understand potential trajectories of Russian influence in Africa over the next three years (2023–2025), especially developments that could have implications for democracy on the continent. This scenario exercise involved: background papers on various aspects of Russia's engagement in Africa; an online scenario-building workshop with African, American and European analysts; the development of four scenarios, each reflecting a different possible future identified during the online exercise; and further refinement of the scenarios based on consultations with selected analysts. Each of the four scenarios reflects a different combination of two key uncertainties: Russia's capacity to project power in ways that undermine democracy in Africa and the opportunities for Russia to do so.
2023-04-18
National Urban League;
Since its first appearance in 1976 under the stewardship of the late Mr. Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., the organization's fifth president, the State of Black America remains one of the most highly-anticipated benchmarks and sources for thought leadership around racial equality in America.In the 47th edition of the State of Black America "Democracy In Peril: Confronting the Threat Within," we are raising the alarm around the explosive growth of far-right and domestic extremism and the threat it poses to our communities, our families, and our nation.
2023-06-01
NORC at the University of Chicago;
This report presents the main findings, conclusions, and recommendations of NORC's Study of Trends in Democratic Attitudes. It builds on 12 country case studies that describe democratic attitudes between 2012 and 2021 and examine the system-level, contextual factors that have contributed to changes in attitudes over time.In a context of democratic backsliding, a citizenry that remains committed to democratic principles and values—even if dissatisfied with politics and governance—can be critical to staving off democratic decline. In Latin America, however, democratic legitimacy is eroding. The Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) reported that support for and satisfaction with democracy declined sharply in 2016 compared to prior survey rounds and remained low in 2018-2019. While support for democracy remained steady between 2018-2019 and 2021, support for centralizing power in the executive increased n the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2023-06-21
Nonprofit Vote;
Thriving communities of first- and second-generation immigrants exist across the country, building robust networks of mutual support and honoring their shared cultures. Although some of these residents may be ineligible to vote, their American-born and/or naturalized family members do indeed have the right. Yet, voter participation gaps suggest voters from immigrant communities are turning out to vote at rates lower than their non-immigrant counterparts.
2023-04-30
Nonprofit Vote;
Rural areas and small towns hold some of the nation's closest elections but they are frequently overlooked by major parties. In many of these communities, food is scarce, healthcare access is limited, and public transportation is nonexistent. Yet, neighbors, nonprofits, and local leaders work together to build vibrant communities that are vital to our democracy. Nonprofit voter outreach is creating meaningful change all across the country.
2023-08-01
National Endowment for Democracy;
The two essays in this report highlight ways in which two global authoritarian powers, Russia and China, provide surge capacity to kleptocratic networks in Africa. In his essay, "Criminal States, Militarized Criminals, and Profiteers: Russia, Africa, and the Evolving Ecosystem of Transnational Kleptocracy," J.R. Mailey (senior expert at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime) dissects the Wagner Group's illicit activities in key parts of Africa. The Wagner Group's activities are complex, but Mailey zeroes in on the fact that the military support offered to African kleptocrats has little to do with providing security and stability for the African people. Rather it is focused on extracting resources, advancing geopolitical goals, and serving as a brutal cog in the authoritarian mutual support machinery. Even if the ultimate fate of the Wagner Group remains unclear, these trends are unlikely to abate. The opaque economic relationships that the Wagner Group has developed on the continent no doubt are too lucrative for the Kremlin to surrender.China's party state and its proxies are entrenched in corrupt networks in Africa as well. Chinese-linked kleptocratic networks are tapping into likeminded networks on the continent, helping to embolden and empower local kleptocrats seeking to enrich themselves at the expense of their populations. Andrea Ngombet Malewa's (activist and founder of the Sassoufit Collective) essay, "How China Fuels African Kleptocratic Networks: The Case of Congo-Brazzaville," highlights the ways in which Beijing facilitates Congo-Brazzaville's deeply kleptocratic regime. In addition to long-standing Chinese involvement in the timber and extractive industries, Ngombet's analysis spotlights the establishment of a Sino-Congolese Bank for Africa that could allow kleptocrats to bypass the transparency requirements of Western-linked banks, thereby affording opportunities to launder money with impunity. This development has significant implications for accountability norms worldwide.Civil society and independent media seeking to identify and expose kleptocratic networks in Africa face enormous challenges. They often lack the resources, specialized knowledge, and skills needed to track illicit financial flows, and the complex vehicles kleptocrats use to move money around the world. Resourcerich regimes in countries such as Congo-Brazzaville, Sudan, and the Central African Republic already suffer from gaping deficits in accountability and transparency. Despite these odds, both authors identify critical steps to elevate civil society's essential work exposing and combatting kleptocracy.
2023-03-07
American Academy of Arts and Sciences;
Climate change is a complex, interdisciplinary issue, and effectively communicating climate change requires combatting misinformation and reaching across divides to engage people in action.The Communication Working Group of the Commission on Accelerating Climate Action developed 12 principles for effective climate change communication, ranging from communicating consensus on climate change to framing climate change as an in-group issue. Using examples from across the media landscape, the two publications of this working group highlight needed changes to the ways that climate is discussed broadly.
2023-09-20
Peace Direct;
This report builds on our previous research to provide an operational guide to decolonising partnerships in the humanitarian, peacebuilding and development sector.Based on consultations with 200 participants from 70 countries, it offers comprehensive recommendations to transform every aspect of partnerships between entities in the Global South and North.It highlights how we can all build more equitable and decolonised partnerships through trust-building, open communication, flexible funding and the prioritisation of local ownership.Discover the step-by-step guides to better partnerships for civil society, bilateral donors, INGOs and intermediaries across the sector.
2023-03-16
Giffords Center for Violence Intervention;
National community violence intervention leaders and advocates have spent years fighting for an investment in this field commensurate with the magnitude of the issue. Particularly as gun violence increased in the wake of the pandemic, sizable dollars are finally beginning to be allocated to the advancement of community violence intervention work and the strategies that reduce violence in communities most impacted. Giffords Center for Violence Intervention is committed to championing community-led change—and this report is intended to highlight a resource pathway that is available for smaller organizations that are looking to build capacity and self-sustainability by bringing attention to intermediaries. Many community-based organizations lack the capacity to access and manage such funds, and intermediary organizations are essential to bridging this gap. They can provide organizations with the support they need to secure resources and use them effectively, making them crucial to the community violence intervention field.
2023-10-19
National League of Cities;
Three years after the pandemic outbreak, cities have recovered and have maintained a largely positive outlook about their near-term fiscal future. The 2023 City Fiscal Conditions report analyzes data on a total of 820 cities (including the responses from 533 city finance officers from municipalities of various population sizes). Here are four key takeaways from this year's report:Cautious budgeting resulted in better preparation: The cautious approach by many cities in 2023 yielded increased reserves and limited spending, demonstrating that local governments remain good stewards of public dollars.  Better able to weather inflation: Despite the challenge of inflation, the average city experienced more than a six percent increase in general fund revenues. Inflation is more manageable and cities are reaping some benefits of lower inflation.    Federal aid had a positive Impact on city budgets: Direct federal aid through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the bipartisan infrastructure law was among the factors that had a positive impact on cities' ability to balance their 2023 budgets. Planning for uncertainties: Making it through a strong 2022 fiscal year, our survey analysis reveals that many cities are still very cautious in their budgeting. They anticipate potential risks and uncertainties in the post-COVID era as they plan for the current and next fiscal year. Among the concerns for local leaders is the expected end of federal funding through ARPA. Â