A Comparative Analysis of Political Party Programs at the International Republican Institute.

The International Republican Institute (IRI) has conducted political party building programs in developing democracies for twenty-five years. The historic and geographic breadth of the Institute's work in this area gives it a unique perspective, which can yield important lessons about strategies and activities that are most successful in strengthening and democratizing political parties. To identify lessons learned from this experience, IRI's Office of Monitoring and Evaluation undertook case study research of political party programs in eight countries. To frame the research, the team first developed six principles that describe attributes of a mature, fully-functioning political party. The research phase of the project included a desktop review of in-house documents, a review of political conditions on the ground and interviews with in-country partners, as well as IRI staff in Washington, D.C. and in the field. Using the collected data, the team then assessed the extent to which targeted parties had developed, and what role the Institute had played in that development, using the six principles to frame the analysis. Based on the findings of this research, this paper provides an overview of common strategies and activities employed by IRI to promote party development. This paper also makes some initial conclusions regarding how IRI's activities impacted party development in particular political contexts, including why some strategies may have been more effective than others. These conclusions are then distilled into a series of recommendations designed to inform and strengthen future party development efforts. The recommendations are elaborated on throughout the body of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]