The Board of Directors

Sir SHRIDATH RAMPHAL (Chairman), former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth and Co-Chairman of the Commission on Global Governance.

Ambassador THORVALD STOLTENBERG (Vice-Chairman), Ambassador of Norway to Denmark, former Foreign Minister and Minister of Defence of Norway, and UN Special Representative in the former Yugoslavia.

Hon HENRY DE BOULAY FORDE, lawyer and former Foreign Minister and Attorney General of Barbados.

Dr ADAMA DIENG, Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists.

Dr FRENE GINWALA, Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa.

Prof COLIN HUGHES, Professor of Political Science, University of Queensland and former Electoral Commissioner of Australia.

Ms MONICA JIMÉNEZ DE BARROS, Executive Director of PARTICIPA and member of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Chile.

Mr MANMOHAN MALHOUTRA, former Assistant Secretary-General of the Commonwealth and adviser to the former Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi.

Lord STEEL OF AIKWOOD, former British MP, former leader of the British Liberal Party, founding member of the Liberal Democratic Party, and former President of Liberal International.

Ms AUNG SAN SUU KYI, General Secretary of the National League for Democracy in Burma and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

The Institute's work is not the reflection of any specific national interest, but is based on the Statutes on which the members have agreed.

The objectives of the Institute are:

• To promote and advance sustainable democracy world-wide;

• To broaden the understanding and promote the implementation and dissemination of the norms, rules and guidelines that apply to multi-party pluralism and democratic processes;

• To strengthen and support national capacity to develop the full range of democratic instruments;

• To provide a meeting-place for exchanges between all those involved in electoral processes in the context of democratic institution-building;

• To increase knowledge and enhance learning about democratic electoral processes;

• To promote transparency and accountability, professionalism and efficiency in
  the electoral process in the context of democratic development.

International IDEA has the following advantageous characteristics which assist it in undertaking such tasks:

• It is global in ownership and scope;

• It is expressly devoted to advancing democracy as its main task;

• It brings together in its governing body,
  on an equal footing, governments and professional international organizations involved in the process of furthering democracy; and

• It regards democracy as an evolving process and is able to take on long-term projects.

Decisions about what work International IDEA undertakes is guided, in part, by the uniqueness of its members, which in turn reflect the diverse partners that are found in national democracies. The governments and organizations that founded International IDEA believed that the time had come for the creation of a dynamic Institute that could creatively and practically assist in sustaining and developing a democratic process in a large number of countries.

The Institute's Work in
the Area of "Rules and Guidelines"

Since the "cold war" ended there has been a new world-wide focus on democratic governance. Today the challenge of achieving acceptable standards of government, both internationally and domestically, is more urgent than ever. With governance issues squarely on the agenda it is appropriate that International IDEA should focus on the norms, guidelines and values which underlie the democratic and, more specifically, the electoral process.

The Institute's work in the area of "Rules and Guidelines" is to strengthen and promote both norms and guidelines (in the sense of consensually accepted standards and advice) and to make available "best" practices and options. This includes discussions on the interpretation of existing norms and the formulation of working tools and instruments to facilitate their application. This involves the identification, retrieval and dissemination of information and expertise in order to widen the range of options and choices available to those interested in the consolidation of democracy.

A further objective of this programme is the development of communication networks between electoral commissions, around the world, in order to provide an information exchange and assistance for these commissions and governments.

General Publications

Beyond Elections '96: A Two-Year Window of Opportunity for Democracy ­ Proposals for the Transition towards Peace and Democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1996.

Code of Conduct for the Ethical and Professional Discharge of Election Observation Activities, 1997.

Code of Conduct for the Ethical and Professional Discharge of Election Administration Activities, 1997.

Evaluating Election Observation Missions: Lessons Learned From the Russian Elections of 1996, 1997.

International Election Observation:
Lessons Learned. A roundtable jointly organized by the United Nations Electoral Assistance Division and International IDEA, 10­12 October, 1995.

Proceedings of the Democracy Forum 1996.

Proceedings of the Democracy Forum 1997.

Report of the roundtable on National Capacity-Building for Democracy,
12­14 February, 1996.

Consolidating Democracy in Nepal, 1997.

Democracy in Romania: An Assessment Mission Report, 1997.

La Démocratie Au Burkina Faso, 1998.

The International IDEA Handbook of Electoral System Design, 1997.

Voter Turnout from 1945 to 1997: A Global Report on Political Participation, 1997.

Publications about International IDEA

Newsletter (three times a year)

International IDEA's Statutes

International IDEA's Declaration

Work in Progress, January 1998

Information Brochure

Information Leaflet