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Amidst widespread discontent over unemployment, economic inequality, corruption, political repression and restriction of civil liberties, a popular uprising overthrew Tunisian President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011 ending decades of one-party rule.  A democratic transition process was set in motion, which will culminate in the completion of a new constitution.  Tunisia’s first multi-party elections were held in October 2011 for the National Constituent Assembly, which has the power to draft a constitution and appoint an interim cabinet.  During this current phase of the transition, IRI is helping to build a more inclusive and representative political process by providing political parties the tools to reach out to youth and women, strengthening the capacity of civil society to perform public advocacy, increasing transparency and citizen participation in the National Constituent Assembly, and providing timely public opinion research on changing political attitudes. 

Download Summary (PDF)
Amidst widespread discontent over unemployment, economic inequality, corruption, political repression and restriction of civil liberties, a popular uprising overthrew Tunisian President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011 ending decades of one-party rule.  A democratic transition process was set in motion, which will culminate in the completion of a new constitution.  Tunisia’s first multi-party elections were held in October 2011 for the National Constituent Assembly, which has the power to draft a constitution and appoint an interim cabinet.  During this current phase of the transition, IRI is helping to build a more inclusive and representative political process by providing political parties the tools to reach out to youth and women, strengthening the capacity of civil society to perform public advocacy, increasing transparency and citizen participation in the National Constituent Assembly, and providing timely public opinion research on changing political attitudes. 

Political Party Strengthening
Tunisia’s political parties now have the freedom to hold events and communicate freely with citizens after decades of repression.  Party rallies, public meetings and grassroots campaigning are a regular occurrence and allow Tunisians to advocate new platforms and ideas.  Political parties who request assistance from IRI receive specialized trainings on party structure development, youth outreach, inter- and intra-party communications, working with the media, and grassroots campaigning.  IRI works with established and emerging parties representing different ideologies to ensure all can have a voice in Tunisia’s transition.  An emphasis is made to assist parties at the local level to expand membership and reach a larger voter base, ensuring a bottom-up approach to representative politics.  Furthermore, IRI helps parties improve their capacity to incorporate formal participation of youth and women, who have been historically marginalized in the political arena. 

Democratic Governance
IRI is working with Tunisia’s emerging civil society at the local and national level to support and sustain the political transition and improve democratic governance.  IRI supports Tunisian civil society by sharing information about public advocacy, promoting discussion and consultation with the National Constituent Assembly to increase the number of people participating in decision making processes, and engaging Tunisia’s youth in political activism.  IRI’s work with civil society makes information available to the public on the workings of the National Constituent Assembly, supporting the interaction of citizens with assembly delegates and constitutional experts to ensure a transparent and participatory constitution-drafting process.  IRI also supports the interaction of the public with local government to improve public services and support responsive governance.

Public Opinion Polling
Through public opinion polling, IRI is providing credible, verifiable data on Tunisians’ views and concerns.  For the first time stakeholders responsible for making important decisions are taking Tunisians’ views into account, and they look to public opinion data to inform their judgments.  Political parties, civil society, the interim government and the Tunisian public are all beneficiaries of this research.  Ongoing research will give Tunisia’s decision-makers the information they need to represent citizens’ needs and concerns.