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Democracy involves the right of people freely to determine their own destiny. The exercise of this right requires a system that guarantees freedom of express, belief and association, free and competitive elections, respect for the inalienable rights of individuals and minorities, free communications media, and the rule of law.
— From NED's Founding Statement of Principles and Objectives, 1984
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Overview
 The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) was created in 1983 as a private, nonprofit, grant-making foundation with a mission to strengthen democratic institutions around the world through nongovernmental efforts. In the nearly two decades that have passed since NED’s founding, the Endowment has remained on the leading edge of democratic struggles everywhere, while evolving into a multifaceted institution that is a hub of activity, resources and intellectual exchange for activists, practitioners and scholars of democracy the world over.
NED is a unique institution. The Endowment’s nongovernmental character gives it a flexibility that makes it possible to work in some of the world’s most difficult circumstances, and to respond quickly when there is an opportunity for political change. NED is dedicated to fostering the growth of a wide range of democratic institutions abroad, including political parties, trade unions, free markets and business organizations, as well as the many elements of a vibrant civil society that ensure human rights, an independent media, and the rule of law. This well-rounded approach responds to the diverse aspects of democracy and has proved both practical and effective throughout NED’s history. Funded largely by the U.S. Congress, the support NED gives to groups abroad sends an important message of solidarity to many democrats who are working for freedom and human rights, often in obscurity and isolation.
In 1984, the Endowment began making grants to prodemocracy groups in countries such as Poland, Chile and South Africa, whose struggles then seemed so intractable. The triumph of democracy in these countries sparked a wave of democratic transitions that transformed the world in the decade that followed. NED’s grants program has adapted to the needs and priorities of this new international landscape. Today NED assists democrats who face the longest odds in places like Burma, Cuba, Sudan, Congo, China and much of the Muslim world, as well as those working to consolidate democracy in countries that have made more progress.
The Endowment is guided by the belief that freedom is a universal human aspiration that can be realized through the development of democratic institutions, procedures, and values. Democracy cannot be achieved through a single election and need not be based upon the model of the United States or any other particular country. Rather, it evolves according to the needs and traditions of diverse political cultures. By supporting this process, the Endowment helps strengthen the bond between indigenous democratic movements abroad and the people of the United States — a bond based on a common commitment to representative government and freedom as a way of life.
Many elements of NED’s work combine to create a comprehensive approach to promoting and understanding the development of democracy on a global scale:
Maintaining a Global Grants Program
 Operating on a global scale has long been a central element
of NED’s strategy, which assumes that no region where
democrats are asking for help should be disregarded, no matter
how difficult the challenges to change might be. In a globalized
world, political and social breakdown in any country
can quickly spread to other parts of the world, becoming a
threat to international peace and security, making it unwise to
write off any country as insignificant or beyond hope.
NED’s Grants Program provides assistance to democrats in
over 80 countries who are working to:
- Open dictatorial systems
- Democratize semi-authoritarian countries
- Consolidate new democracies
- Renew war-torn societies
NED concentrates most of its resources in the first two
categories, dictatorships and semi-authoritarian regimes,
where barriers to democratic progress are the greatest.
The third and fourth objectives seek to help democrats in
transitional countries, where there has been significant
democratic progress, but where institutions remain weak;
and to help those democratic elements in war-torn or
failed states that lack virtually any institutions of governance,
democratic or otherwise.
A Multisectoral Approach
NED’s multisectoral approach is characterized by its special
relationship with four core grantees: The National
Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the
International Republican Institute, the American Center for
International Labor Solidarity, and the Center for
International Private Enterprise, which represent the two
major American political parties, the labor movement and
the business community, respectively. Each of the core
grantees draws on the talents and energies of its respective
fields in the United States and abroad to offer unparalleled
expertise on democratic business, labor, and political
party development and electoral reform to democrats
around the world. The relationship between NED and the
core groups provides institutional balance, built-in bipartisanship,
and assurance that the Endowment will be evenhanded
in its judgments and receptive to diverse approaches
to democratic development. In addition to the core
grantees, NED provides direct support to groups abroad
who are advancing human rights, independent media, the
rule of law and a wide range of civil society initiatives. NED
also places a special emphasis on increasing the participation
of women and youth in democracy-building.
Building on the Success of the Grants Program
 The success of the grants program has propelled the
Endowment to develop new areas of work to advance our
mission. In the process, NED has become a mature and complex
institution — one that seeks to aid the work of democracy
activists, to deepen the level of analysis and understanding
of democratic development, and to foster a sense of
common purpose within the worldwide movement for democratic
change. New activities that now complement and
enhance NED’s grants program include:
Advancing research on democracy
In 1990 NED founded the Journal of Democracy. Now more
than a decade old, the Journal is widely recognized as the
pre-eminent international forum for publishing new
research on democracy, debating critical issues, reviewing
current literature, and reporting on important events and
recent developments that affect the progress of democracy
in the world. The success of the Journal provided a solid
foundation for the establishment in 1994 of the
International Forum for Democratic Studies, a leading center
for analysis of the theory and practice of democratic
development worldwide. Other activities of the Forum
include conferences, seminars, books on all aspects of
democratization, the Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows
Program, a library and online database, and a collaborative
network of democracy research centers based in new
democracies. The Forum is an integral part of the
Endowment and demonstrates NED’s belief that research
and practical activity are mutually beneficial. (More on the Forum)
Cooperating with other democracy foundations
NED is working to increase international cooperation among
existing democracy foundations and to encourage all established
democracies to create similar institutions. In 1993 NED
convened the first in an on-going series of “democracy summits”
among democracy foundations. In addition to general
information-sharing among foundations, these “summits” provide
opportunities to coordinate strategy and assistance for
some of the most difficult places to promote democracy.
Since to 1993 summit, democracy assistance foundations
have commenced operations in France, Sweden, the
Netherlands, Poland, Austria, Australia, and Spain. Ireland
and Taiwan may soon follow suit.
Building a worldwide movement for democracy
In 1998 NED launched an ambitious new initiative, the
World Movement for Democracy, a dynamic network of
democrats, both individuals and organizations, who aspire
to work in a coordinated way to address proactively the
toughest challenges to the advancement of democracy and
human rights in the world today. The global initiative complements
the interrelated aspects of the Endowment’s work:
grant support, international cooperation, and democracy
research. (More on WMD)
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