transparency | DemocracyWorks: A Blog of the National Democratic Institute

Interview: Flavia Freidenberg Discusses Strategies to Increase Women’s Political Participation

Flavia Freidenberg is a researcher and professor at the Institute of Legal Research of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

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Andrea Fernandez, NDI resident program officer in Colombia, recently interviewed Flavia Freidenberg, researcher and professor at the Institute of Legal Research of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Flavia answered a number of questions about strategies to increase women’s political participation in Latin America. Read highlights from their interview or watch a video of the full discussion.

Transparency Could Ease Decades-Long Democratic Erosion in Nicaragua

Poll monitors oversee the 2006 Nicaraguan elections.

Advances and reversals generally mark the trajectory of democratic development. But in the political history of Nicaragua over the last decade, there have been only reversals with next year’s elections likely to see the continued erosion of Nicaraguan democracy and consolidation of power by President Daniel Ortega and his Sandinista National Liberation Front (Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional - FSLN). But there are voices advocating for greater pluralism. Opposition political parties are small but vocal, and different elements of civil society have advocated for democratic reforms. While their efforts have not yet yielded results, the Nicaraguan government still has the opportunity to move toward greater transparency in the polls before next year's presidential elections.