El Salvador

Despite the remarkable political and economic progress that El Salvador has made since the end of its civil war in 1992, many citizens still hold their democratic institutions in low regard. The International Republican Institute’s (IRI) programs address this “confidence gap” by using public opinion research, constituent outreach development and town hall meetings, to help El Salvador’s political parties and National Assembly create more substantive, issue-based policies and platforms that respond to public demands.

Party Platform Development

IRI will use public opinion polling to help El Salvador’s political parties identify public concerns and draft responsive, issue-based party platforms. Ahead of El Salvador’s presidential and legislative elections in 2009, IRI will work with the parties to create campaign messages that address the major issues on voters’ minds. In addition to polling work, IRI will organize and support small, multi-party delegations to conduct town hall meetings in rural locations, where party members can listen to the concerns of civil society organizations and private citizens that would not otherwise have an input into the policy process.

Finally, IRI will support an Issue Analysis Series forum that will invite foreign experts to travel to El Salvador and discuss how particular issues were analyzed in their country and ultimately addressed through policy. Possible issues addressed may include crime, economic inequality and public cynicism about the roles of democratic institutions.

IRI will convene a group of leaders in the National Assembly for a series of private workshops to develop core legislative capacities, including constituent service administration, communications strategy, message and platform development, public opinion research and issue management.

Constituent Outreach

IRI will work directly with members of El Salvador’s National Assembly to improve their constituent outreach methods. Developing basic legislative techniques that strengthen ties between the assembly and El Salvador’s public will precede a study tour of the U.S. by El Salvador’s National Assembly members in the spring of 2008. The study tour, funded by the Institute for Representative Government, will bring assembly members to Washington, DC and additional American cities, where members will gain first-hand experience in the constituent outreach methods of the U.S. Congress and political parties at the federal, state and local level.

El Salvador, like its neighboring countries in Central America, suffered a brutal civil war during the 1980s that was fueled by Cold War tensions and its people’s own longstanding social and political grievances.

During the 50 years leading up to El Salvador’s civil war, the country was ruled by a series of military dictatorships. In 1980, a guerrilla movement calling itself the Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) took up arms against the government, beginning a long war in which the civilian population suffered heavily. More than 75,000 Salvadorans lost their lives before the war ended in 1992.

Since the signing of United Nation’s brokered peace accords in 1992, El Salvador has made important progress. The country has held four peaceful presidential elections that met international standards of transparency and fairness. Civilian governments have advanced national reconciliation, consolidated their democratic system and addressed vexing social issues such as poverty and corruption. The military has returned to the barracks and no longer interfere in politics.

El Salvador’s economy is the strongest in Central America. Since the 1990s four consecutive presidents have implemented liberalizing economic reforms of El Salvador’s international trade regime; privatized their pension systems and other large industries including telecommunications and energy distribution; and in 2001 integrated their currency with the dollar, which led to falling interest rates and increased investor confidence.

In 2004 El Salvador was the first country in Central America to ratify the Central American Free Trade Agreement with the United States and the Dominican Republic. In the 15 years since the end of the war, governments have succeeded in reducing poverty in half, from 60 to 30 percent nationwide. A central challenge for the government will be extending these gains to large sectors of the population who have still not been able to share in El Salvador’s economic growth.

Despite the progress that has been made, significant challenges remain. Crime, social inequality, high unemployment and public dissatisfaction with government institutions pose significant challenges to El Salvador’s long-term democratic governance.

Political Overview

Head of State: President Elías Antonio Saca González, ARENA

Type of Government: republic

Suffrage: universal, age 16

Elections Calendar

Program Overview

Focus of Program: strengthening political parties

Funding Source: National Endowment for Democracy