Georgia

For over 20 years, IRI has partnered with Georgian political actors, youth, and electoral stakeholders to assist the country in holding to a democratic trajectory, including promoting the development of a multi-party political system and the pursuit of democratic reforms.

IRI works closely with established and emerging political parties to help them incorporate democratic practices throughout their party operations. IRI supports them in developing internal and external communications strategies, crafting issue-based policy platforms and messaging, creating effective campaign strategies, and building mechanisms for constituent outreach. IRI collaborates with parties to enhance political inclusion and participation of members of underrepresented groups in Georgian politics.

IRI conducts assessments of Georgian elections and makes recommendations for changes to improve election integrity. Building on its longstanding relationships with political parties and stakeholders, as well as its respected observation efforts, IRI supports reform efforts to increase public trust in electoral outcomes and promote transparency and accountability.

At the heart of IRI’s engagement with political parties is the push to design political party strategies around citizens’ priorities, both in terms of campaign preparation and post-election governance. IRI draws upon its reputable public opinion research to help parties develop citizen-responsive policy platforms and messaging. IRI also creates opportunities for activists to present research from their local communities to ensure Georgian politicians introduce policies tailored to local concerns.

To increase youth engagement with democratic political processes and institutions, IRI works with emerging young leaders from the civil and political spheres to provide them with the skills, knowledge, and networks that enable them to take on leadership roles. IRI collaborates with the local chapters of the Generation Democracy Network and the European Democracy Youth Network. Additionally, it assists political parties in establishing and building their youth wings to create a pipeline for young talent within party structures.

IRI’s polling dataset spans over 20 years, giving IRI a unique ability to identify, track, and create programmatic responses to political and economic trends in Georgia. Public opinion research provides political parties with high-quality, scientific data on policy preferences and the concerns of the people. IRI helps parties identify nationally relevant issues, incorporate them into party policies, and use the results to create more responsive platforms and messages. The data gathered from these polls is also used to increase parties’ data literacy and their ability to use research to inform their overall operations, thereby helping them develop internal competencies for gathering and analyzing data.