Over the past 20 years, IFES has developed a collection of materials on the conduct of elections and the study of contemporary democratic development. This unique collection enables democracy practitioners, policymakers and election officials from around the world to delve in depth into contemporary problems and cutting edge solutions in the field of governance and civic participation. Those faced with a practical challenge--designing a low-literacy ballot or voter education campaign, for example--can draw on samples and templates used successfully around the world. Policymakers and researchers have found the latest academic research and best practices from the field in such diverse areas as absentee voting, civil registry procedures, election security, the role of media, election observation and post-conflict governance and reconciliation.

Unique

The leading international collection of election-studies and democracy-building material in the world, the compilation contains more than 6,500 books, periodicals, country reports and briefings, as well as posters, ballots, fliers, handbills and other materials generated by the electoral process. Collected by IFES staff, local officials and researchers in more than 160 countries and in 73 languages, this material is largely unavailable anywhere else. The highly specialized collection includes:

• Ballots from numerous countries and elections, including absentee, low-literacy, referendum and other specialized ballots.
• Comprehensive collection of international constitutions and electoral codes, both current and historical.
• Hundreds of poll-worker and voter education posters, handbills, booklets and audio and video clips from around the world.

The materials are catalogued by region, country and subject. Categories include election law, legislative systems, rule of law, civic education, civil society, voter participation, political party statutes, election administration, political finance reform, absentee balloting and election dispute arbitration. We also house a Richard Scammon collection, a portion of the late election scholar's papers, books and writings.

Original

The collection is a depository of original survey and focus group research conducted by IFES to measure and evaluate democratic development in dozens of countries. Election assessments and country reports published by IFES since 1989 make up another special section. These IFES publications--together with a wide range of country and topic reports prepared by individual scholars, think tanks, academic institutions, selected international nongovernmental organizations and governments--form the informational heart of the collection.

Network of Local Democracy Resource Centers

IFES’ collection has served as a hub for a network of local resource centers, operated by IFES field offices in many parts of the world. These local Democracy Resource Centers, open freely to the public, offer print and electronic resources on all aspects of civil society and democracy building. More importantly, they serve as a gathering place for civil society groups to meet and strategize about their collective efforts. IFES operates three such centers in the Democratic Republic of Congo and others in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia and Tajikistan.

Publications and Online Resources

IFES publishes two magazines. Since 1993, it has produced Elections Today, an international quarterly for election officials, policy makers, democracy practitioners and scholars, offering analysis and discussion of contemporary issues in the advancement of democracy.

In 2004, it began to publish democracy at large, a quarterly magazine designed for professionals interested in democracy development.

The Buyers' Guide to Election Suppliers, a catalogue of election equipment vendors and technology, is updated regularly and sent gratis to every national election authority in the world.

Another project --ElectionGuide.org--publishes online calendars and results of national elections around the world, with daily postings. Verified election data is furnished by arrangement to the CNN website. IFES also recently launched ElectionAccess.org, a comprehensive website to promote the electoral rights of people with disabilities.

The IFES website, IFES.org, offers continually updated profiles of IFES programs around the world and serves as the portal to numerous IFES field office websites.

To broaden access to its collection, IFES’ collection recently became a contributing member of Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO), a database managed by Columbia University that provides a platform for academic researchers from more than 60 institutions to post the most current working papers, research projects, conference proceedings and journal articles.