A learning platform on think tanks and electoral processes

On Think Tanks put together a learning platform on think tanks and electoral processes. More than 20 experiences from think tanks around the world have been compiled so far. The experiences intend to provide a space of reference/inspiration for those think tanks seeking to develop initiatives with a focus on elections. 2015 was an intense electoral year with presidential, legislative, regional and local elections in many countries. If your think tank (or other organisations you know) works with similar initiatives at the time of elections, share your experience so others can benefit from your lessons.

In 2015, and based on a series of posts on think tanks and elections in Latin America, On Think Tanks compiled a broad set of projects that think tanks around the world have put into action at times of elections in their countries. We also provided supporting material for a panel focusing on the role of think tanks in elections at the Think Tank Initiative’s Global Exchange Conference that took place in Istanbul in mid February 2015.

More than 20 experiences from think tanks around the world have been compiled so far: four in Africa, two in Asia, six in Europe, seven in Latin America, one in the United States and one global project. Initiatives range from projects that seek to influence the electoral discussion by raising the quality of the debate by introducing new research, to efforts to organise debates among candidates both at the national or regional level, research studies on electoral reforms or results, civic education campaigns to help citizens understand some features of the elections, and projects that evaluate each candidate’s proposals.

They are from:

For each of these experiences we asked think tanks to share their objectives, the different components of the initiative (research, events, debates, and communication outputs), a summary of the results, and who the supporters of the efforts (both partners and donors) were.

Moreover, we decided to expand our series of experiences on think tanks and elections and invite thinktankers around the world to share their organisations’ initiatives, thus fostering cross-learning with their peers and other interested audiences. The series was able to deepen some of the experiences gathered in the webpage, but also invite other voices to reflect on the broad spectrum of efforts that think tanks can put into practice focusing on elections.

In addition to the Latin American series, that includes cases from Peru, Argentina, Paraguay, Ecuador, and Colombia, the experiences of the extended series include:

Altogether, both the website and the series of experiences intend to provide a space of reference/inspiration for those think tanks seeking to develop initiatives with a focus on elections. Moreover, we are working on more ideas to expand the experiences and enrich the learning platform with new resources. We seek to collaborate with experienced think tanks and donors in the field throughout this process.

A final call for those who woud like to contribute and benefit of the lessons shared in this platform. 2015 was an intense electoral year with presidential, legislative, regional and local elections in many countries (see Table below).

If your think tank (or other organisations you know) works with similar initiatives at the time of elections, please email me and we will be happy to include it in the webpage so others can benefit from your experience.

Elections 2015 around the world

Month/Elections Presidential Legislative General Regional Municipal
January Sri Lanka

Zambia

Uzbekistan

Comoras

Greece
February Lesoto

Anguila

March Nigeria

Uzbekistan

Tajikistan

El Salvador

Nigeria

Andorra

Estonia

Israel

Bolivia El Salvador

Bolivia

April Sudan

Togo

Kazakhstan

Sudan

Haiti

Benin

Finland

Anguila

Nigeria
May Poland Surinam

Burundi

UK

Guyana

Ethiopia

Sweden

Spain

June Mexico

Turkey

Denmark
July Burundi Peru
August Argentina Argentina

Haiti

Sri Lanka

Argentina
September Faroe Islands

Guatemala

Trinidad & Tobago

Greece
October Belarus

Burkina Faso

Cote d’Ivoire

Argentina

Haiti

Tanzania

United Arab Emirates

Portugal

Burkina Faso

Canada

Argentina

Poland

Tanzania

Switzerland

Oman

Central African Republic Colombia
November Kirgnistán

Myanmar

Azerbaijan

Marshall Islands

Turkey Paraguay
December Venezuela Spain

Source: National Electoral Directorate, Argentina.