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Outreach

Many political parties around the world have discovered that canvassing women and addressing issues relevant to them can have an enormous impact on the parties’ electoral chances. These parties have therefore sought ways to further incorporate and, in some cases, institutionalize a focus on women’s concerns by forming women’s wings or policy committees and conducting public opinion research on issues affecting women. In all cases, these practices serve to increase a party’s outreach to women, to increase a party’s attention to women’s concerns and to craft tailored and effective policies. You will learn about political parties’ outreach in this section.

From the Library

MPs Online: Connecting with Constituents

The report provides recommendations for MPs, constituents and for Parliament.  Primary amongst these are that MPs need to develop a policy for the use of email and strategies for digital media that define the target audience and connect with their offline strategy. Constituents benefit when MPs are online and so citizens are encouraged to promote the internet and provide examples of good practice to break down barriers amongst those MPs who are more resistant. In the digital age democracy can be driven by both sides. Finally, the report recommends a review of the licensing and re-use of content created by Parliament.

Consolidated Response on the Impact of Illiteracy on Young Women's Political Participation

In electoral and decision-making processes, women - and especially young women - often find themselves spectators rather than active participants. While there are many factors at play, non-education stands out as one of the key reasons for the lack of young women’s political participation. Women remain disproportionally affected by illiteracy in all parts of the world, but in Africa and Asia in particular girls face considerable difficulties acquiring basic reading and writing skills.

This consolidated response will first discuss how illiteracy and non-education affect political participation for young women. It will then examine how these issues can best be tackled by reviewing a number of strategies, policies and special programmes that have been used around the world to tackle illiteracy and help girls and young women engage in politics.

IDEA draft Code of conduct on media and elections

The purpose of this code of conduct is to address the areas where all three sets of ethical standards overlap. The mass media are increasingly recognised as playing a crucial role in free and democratic elections. The media are vital in conveying information to the electorate, helping the latter to make a free and informed choice.

Report of Parallel NGO Electoral Campaign for Women Candidates in Slovenia

Women’s Lobby in Slovenia took active part in the EWL 50-50 Campaign for the election of the European parliament in 2009. The Women’s Lobby of Slovenia decided to organize and lead so called parallel electoral campaign. This report captures the outcomes of the EWL and Women's Lobby of Slovenia 50-50 Campaign.

Consolidated Responses on Independent Women Candidates in Local Elections in Mali

This consolidated response highlights recommendations on how to empower independent women candidates to succeed in elections. These recommendations include providing training sessions, working with civil society organizations, forming women’s caucuses and coalitions, holding public outreach campaigns, and lobbying political parties.

How to Handle Online Criticism

This op-ed describes how an organization, political candidate or office-holder should handle online criticism and describes some ways to address it.

Promoting Effective Democratic Reform in Semi-Authoritarian States and Pseudo-Democracies

This paper discusses the importance of promoting global democratic reform using tailored, country-specific approaches. It identifies several key factors of meaningful reform, as well as various issues that need to be addressed in semi-authoritarian and pseudo-democracies in order for effective reform to take place.

Building a Healthy Party

This workbook was designed for the Liberal Party in Croatia. It includes information and activities relating to topics such as recruiting party members, running local branch offices, and communicating with national headquarters.

Political Party Development Program: Political Party Training Manual

This training manual provides guidelines and material for conducting a training program on building political parties, running a political campaign, and communicating a campaign message. It contains background information, model agendas, workshop activities, and sample surveys and quizzes.

Walk & Talk: A Guide for Keeping in Touch with Your Voters

This training manual is designed to improve party outreach strategies and encourage direct voter contact. It covers four main topics: new approaches to voter contact, reporting back to voters, image building, and training a campaign team.