US Democracy Groups Mark 30 Years of Progress, Controversy

November 15, 2013

Democracy has made numerous advances around the world in the past three decades, thanks in part to several U.S.-based organizations. The National Endowment for Democracy and related groups are celebrating their 30th anniversary.

Much of the world is more democratic today than when the National Endowment for Democracy [NED] was established in 1983.

The private, nonprofit group, which receives funds from Congress, has helped foster that change, according to its longtime president, Carl Gershman.

"Our job, our responsibility, our mission, given by the Congress, is to be helpful, is to lend a helping hand. That's what we do. But the main driving forces are inside those countries, and it's basically the people in those countries," said Gershman.

The NED is one of several affiliated pro-democracy groups marking their third decade. The National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute, linked to the two major U.S. political parties, have similar missions.

The groups work with non-governmental organizations, political parties, democracy activists and some governments to help establish and strengthen democratic institutions. The NED does so by providing grants to those groups, while the party-backed groups are field-based - operating their own offices in the countries, said National Democratic Institute President Ken Wollack.