International IDEA
International IDEA (the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance) is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1995 with a mandate to support sustainable democratic governance across the globe. It has 35 member states and is headquartered in Stockholm, with regional offices across Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe.
IDEA focuses on the full spectrum of democratic systems: electoral processes, political parties, constitutions, parliaments, and civic participation. It is distinct from advocacy organisations — its role is to provide comparative research and technical assistance to governments, electoral commissions, and civil society, without prescribing a single model of democracy.
Key resources and platforms:
- Global State of Democracy — annual indices tracking democratic performance across 160+ countries
- ConstitutionNet — an online platform for constitutional drafters and researchers, hosting global resources on constitution-building processes
- Electoral Integrity — comparative data on electoral system design and administration
- Voter Turnout Database — one of the most comprehensive global datasets on electoral participation
For organisations working on democratic reform or civic tech, IDEA's comparative databases are a primary research resource.
Links
- Website: idea.int
- Global State of Democracy: idea.int/gsod
- ConstitutionNet: constitutionnet.org
See also
- Democracy
- Deliberative Democracy
- Constitutional Democracy
- E-Government
- newDemocracy Foundation
- Democracy International
- Participedia
History
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1995-01-01
Founded in Stockholm as an intergovernmental organisation supporting sustainable democracy worldwideFounding of the organisation
Sourcing: High
The Founding Conference of International IDEA took place on 27–28 February 1995
↗ View source - 2006-01-01 Launched the Global State of Democracy indices — a flagship annual assessment covering 160+ countriesPlatform/product launch