Political parties represent a keystone of democratic governance. They provide a structure for political participation; serve as a training ground for future political leaders; and transform social interests into public policy.

 

Actionable and country-specific indicators may assist parties in addressing the challenges they face, in areas such as internal party democracy, transparency in mobilization and use of resources, and message development that adheres to basic norms and standards of human rights and gender equality. 

 

While indicators related to political parties are often included in democracy indexes and assessments, relatively few assessent tools focus exclusively on political parties. Most have been developed for undertaking baseline assessments to inform political party strengthening/development programmes.