National Democratic Institute

National Democratic Institute

Abbreviation	NDI
Formation	1983
Type	Non-profit non-governmental organization
Headquarters	455 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, D.C., U.S.
President	Tamara Cofman Wittes
Website	www.ndi.org

The National Democratic Institute (NDI)^[a] is a non-profit American non-governmental organization whose stated mission is to "support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability".^[1] It is funded primarily by the United States and other Western governments, by major corporations and by nonprofits like the Open Society Foundations.

The NDI was founded in 1983, shortly after the United States Congress created the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).^[2] The NED's creation was followed by the establishment of three related institutes: the Center for International Private Enterprise, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, and the National Republican Institute for International Affairs, later renamed the International Republican Institute (IRI). NED provides funds to these three institutes and an expanding number of private sector groups so that they are able to carry out their programs abroad.^[3]

While headquartered in Washington, D.C., NDI operates exclusively outside of the United States, promoting democratic civil participation, elections, debates, democratic governance, democracy and technology, political inclusion of marginalized groups, and gender, women and democracy, peace and security, political parties, and youth political participation worldwide.^[4][5] Officially non-partisan, NDI takes no position on U.S. elections, though maintains a loose affiliation with the Democratic Party and is a "cooperating organization" with Liberal International.^[6][7]

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