Democracy and Governance

We empower local partners to build the skills, systems and institutions that underpin democracies founded on human rights and inclusion—that are representative, accountable and effective. By helping lay this foundation, we catalyze inclusive economic growth, social development community resilience and stabilization.

Our experience spans environments affected by conflict, state fragility, corruption, criminal violence and violent extremism, as well as emerging or consolidating democracies.

We work across the program cycle from assessments and strategies to program design and implementation, to monitoring, evaluation and learning. Recognizing that both the demand and supply for good governance is necessary to provide responsive services and manage divisions in society, our approach at the tactical level places a premium on engagement between citizens and their government.

We focus on:

Democracy, human rights, and governance analytics and training
Public sector management and decentralization
Civil society
Cross-sectoral integration, incorporating political and governance dimensions into work in other sectors

MSI works closely with USAID’s Center of Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG), and has contributed to important USAID field guides and handbooks that are still in use today. MSI also works with other USAID operating units around the world, the U.S. Department of State, and partners closely with leading think tanks and universities.

Analytics And Training

For development programs to be effective, they must be grounded in nuanced and practical understandings of the political-economic contexts within which government and civic institutions operate.

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Civil Society

We strengthen civil society to facilitate citizens’ voices, to monitor governments and hold them accountable, and to improve access and quality of service provision.

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Public Sector Management and Decentralization

We are advancing public sector management and decentralization by combining extensive experience with research and tools to bring effective services and approaches to our work.

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