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IFES

F. Clifton White Applied Research Center for Democracy and Elections (ARC)

Mission: Improving democratization strategies

IFES’ F. Clifton White Applied Research Center for Democracy and Elections (ARC) generates innovative applied research to enhance the practice of democracy-building and to bolster the development of democratic and participatory institutions, processes and culture. Through its research and outreach activities, ARC seeks to bridge the gap between theories of democratic development and practical realities of democracy-building in order to enrich democracy programming.

Current trends in research on democracy and civil society revolve around abstract or theoretical issues, examining the ideas that lie behind democracy building. Much of the work on the ground in democracy and civil society must focus on tangible realities and obstacles of day-to-day work in challenging environments. By bridging theory and practice with its nearly two decades of experience in both fieldwork and research, IFES seeks to balance the discussion and create appropriate democratization policies and strategies that are valuable to policy, academic, NGO, and donor communities.

Besides pursuing new research projects, ARC houses stand-alone projects as well as IFES’ survey research unit, manages the Democracy Fellows program, and collaborates with other IFES units to host roundtables and events on key issues in democracy-building.

Featured Applied Research Projects
The ACE Electoral Knowledge Network
The ACE Electoral Knowledge Network is a global online resource for election policy, planning, organization and management. ACE was established in 1995 as a cooperative endeavor among three founding organizations: IFES, the International Institute for Democracy and Elections (IDEA), and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). In 2004, four new partners- all long-term supporters of the original ACE Project- were added: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Instituto Federal Electoral (IFE) of Mexico, Elections Canada, and EISA. USAID provided the initial funding for IFES' participation in ACE.
Election Guide
Since 1998, ElectionGuide has been an election information leader, providing profiles of national-level elections with up-to-date information on contending parties/candidates, issues at stake, news and analysis, government and electoral structures, election results, and voter turnout. Click on the link above to learn more about or to visit ElectionGuide.
Election Violence Education Resolution (EVER)
In September 2003, IFES launched the EVER project, which helps civil society organizations (CSOs) in a given country develop a toolkit to effectively monitor and prevent election violence in conjunction with election management bodies and security forces. The EVER project also tracks incidents of electoral violence in a global journal to which CSOs contribute source material. The toolkit methodology was used in Iraq's 2005 elections.
Election Standards
The project examines the norms and standards associated with the administration of the following activities by EMBs or other relevant agencies: 1) political finance reporting; 2) delimitation processes; 3) Internet use; and 4) election technology applications; and 5) external enfranchisement. For many EMBs in evolving democracies, these activities represent new areas of responsibility that have not been traditional targets of electoral assistance programming or best practice evaluation.

All Applied Research Projects »

For more information, contact applied.research@ifes.org
News and Materials
March 2010
White Paper/Report: Electoral Governance in sub-Saharan Africa (.pdf)
March 2, 2010
IFES News in Brief: Full of 'Firsts' in the DRC
February 18, 2010
Press Release: International NGO Releases Survey Findings on Women's Political Standing in Lebanon (.pdf)
February 18, 2010
IFES News in Brief: IFES Releases Survey Findings on Women's Political Standing in Lebanon
February 5, 2010
IFES News in Brief: IFES Releases Findings of Tajikistan Survey
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