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The Asian Center for Democratic Governance (ACDG) was a partnership between the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), Washington DC, and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), New Delhi. Based in New Delhi, the ACDG held regional workshops as well as larger international conferences on leading themes related to the development and strengthening of democracy in market economies. The conferences were designed to introduce participants to the latest thinking on the subject through panel presentations by leading scholars and practitioners from India and the region’s other established democracies, the newer democracies such as Thailand, Mongolia, and Nepal, transitional countries such as Indonesia, as well as multilateral development institutions, the United States and other democracies. More...
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Inaugural Conference
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On January 7-8, 2001, the Asian Center for Democratic Governance (ACDG) held its inaugural conference in New Delhi, India. The conference, entitled “Making Democracy Work: Accountability & Transparency,” included four sessions, during which participants discussed the importance of good governance in democracies, and the respective roles of the parliament, the judiciary and the media in achieving this goal. In the final conference session, participants – drawn from throughout Asia – offered suggestions on the future direction and focus of Asian Center conferences and workshops. More...
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Political Finance Workshop
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The Asian Center cooperated with the Sejong Institute and NED’s International Forum for Democratic Studies on a June 28-30, 2001, workshop in Seoul, South Korea on "Political Finance and Democracy in East Asia: The Use and Abuse of Money in Politics." The first half of the three-day meeting featured presentations by academic experts on such topics as corruption, disclosure, and transparency in Asia and elsewhere, plus case studies of political finance in Korea, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Political practitioners—including elected officials, political party leaders, and representatives of national election commissions—took the lead in the second half of the conference by debating the practical implications of laws regulating political contributions and expenditures, the effectiveness of disclosure and enforcement regimes in their countries, and likelihood that current reform proposals would solve the most severe problems.
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Freedom of Information Workshop
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On August 6-8, 2001, the Asian Center for Democratic Governance held a workshop in New Delhi, India, entitled "Freedom of Information for Good Governance". The two and one-half day event, organized in cooperation with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), included sessions on the following themes: the legal-political environment for freedom of information; the media's role in ensuring transparency; the government's role in providing transparency; economic information and the role of the business community; and the impact of new technologies. The workshop included leading journalists, policy experts and politicians from Australia, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United States, and United Kingdom.
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Strengthening Democratic Governance
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The Asian Center held a conference on "Strengthening Democratic Governance," March 17-18, 2002, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Organized in cooperation with the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI), it drew together participants from India, Pakistan, the United States, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Indonesia, Iran, and Afghanistan. It included sessions on each of the following critical topics for the region: managing conflict democratically, fighting corruption, and elevating the role of women in public life.
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