A young man becomes a political activist after a parliamentary internship Salum Awadh is a 26-year-old with big ambitions: someday he wants to run for president of Tanzania. But he wasn’t always so interested in politics — in fact, his university degree is in environmental science, with a minor in economics. What convinced him that his future lay in politics was a USAID-funded parliamentary internship program more...
Office of Democracy and Governance
USAID
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20523
Tel: 202-712-1892
Free and fair elections are indispensable to democracy. A country can not be truly democratic until its citizens have the opportunity to choose their representatives. The Elections & Political Processes Division (EPP) provides leadership on political competition and consensus building issues to USAID field missions and bureaus, other U.S. Government entities, and the broader democracy and governance community. We do this through fostering seven elements which are essential to fair elections and political processes:
Impartial electoral frameworks
Credible electoral administration
Effective oversight of electoral processes
Informed and active citizenries
Representative and competitive multiparty systems
Effective governance by elected leaders and bodies
Elections — More Than Events-Based Programs and Activities
Elections can be a primary tool to help force political openings and expand political participation. In recent years, elections have been a principal vehicle for democratization, as authoritarian governments have frequently fallen to democratic forces. Electoral campaigns also tend to foster political liberalization. For an election to be free and fair, certain civil liberties, such as the freedoms of speech, association and assembly, are required. Elections offer political parties and civic groups an opportunity to mobilize and organize supporters and share alternative platforms with the public. They also serve to encourage political debate.
Elections and Political Processes Technical Publications:
The DG Office's publications series enables USAID to more effectively reach missions and other audiences with the latest technical knowledge in the field of democracy and governance.
