Democracy and Governance Studies

Democracy International

A number of students and alumni have worked for Democracy International (DI), a private consulting firm in Washington, DC. The program had a very close relationship with DI during Pakistan’s 2008 election and Afghanistan’s 2009 and 2010 elections.

In Pakistan, Evan Smith (‘08) and Miki Wilkins (’08) worked in the head office in Islamabad coordinating teams in six cities across Pakistan, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Mulan, Peshawar, and Quetta. Associate Director Barak Hoffman also served as an election monitor in Lahore.

In Afghanistan in 2009, Smith headed DI’s press operations and Wilkins coordinated the observation team in Kabul. Danielle Pearl (’10), Austan Mogharabi (’09), and Associate Director Barak Hoffman, served as election monitors in Heart, Farah, and Kabul.

International Foundation for Electoral Systems

The program has sponsored two successful election management workshops with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), an independent, non-governmental organization providing professional support to electoral democracy. The workshops brought together students and IFES staff to address contemporary challenges in elections management.  IFES is one of the main designers of leading election training program, Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections (BRIDGE).

Project on Middle East Democracy

The program held a series of conferences in Amman, Jordan; Beirut, Lebanon; Cairo, Egypt; and Washington, D.C. with the        Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED). POMED is a non-profit organization working to understand how genuine democracies can develop in the Middle East and how the U.S. can best support that process. The conferences brought together youth leaders from the United States and the Middle East to discuss the role and responsibility of youth in achieving and sustaining democratic reforms. We jointly published the results of those meetings in After Cairo: From the Vision of the Cairo Speech to Active Support for Human Dignity.

Collaborative Relationships

More broadly, the Democracy and Governance program has formed excellent relationships with public and private-sector organizations such as Creative Associates, Freedom House, the National Democratic Institute (NDI), and the United States Institute of Peace (USIP; where program co-Director Dan Brumberg also serves as a senior advisor) through classes taught by practitioners from the field, conferences, and special events. These classes and events have proven to be an excellent opportunity for students to meet, interact, and learn from leading practitioners, and secure jobs and internships in those organizations.