Terms of Reference. Database and Website on Political Parties

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1 Terms of Reference Database and Website on Political Parties Summary International IDEA is through its programme on Dialogue and Research on Political Parties (see Annex D for a programme overview) carrying out data collection on external regulation and internal functioning of political parties. This will constitute the basis for further research on - and dialogue with political parties. Research is conducted on a global scale through a network of regional and national partners. To achieve analysis, publication and dissemination of knowledge and other research findings and material, a database and a website on political parties will be developed and maintained. The aim of this Terms of Reference is to acquire assistance in the overall construction, development and maintenance of an IDEA database and website on political parties. 1. The Context Strong and sustainable democracy is dependent on well-functioning political parties. They are crucial actors in bringing together diverse interests, recruiting and presenting candidates, and developing competing policy proposals that provide people with a choice. In a democracy there is no substitute for open competition between political parties in elections. Although little comparative research has been conducted, it is clear that the external environment the regulatory, financial, political and electoral spheres in which political parties grow and function, influences their strategy and organization. The external environment also fundamentally impact on whether parties can become more effective agents of democratisation. Concerns of corruption and party financing rules have called for engineering through electoral and party laws, public funding, registration requirements and media access. The internal functioning of political parties determines how the views and social demands of different groups are represented in parliament. Candidates nominated for election are selected, supported and trained by their parties. In addition, parties put candidates in touch with voters and hold them accountable. In many instances, the electoral and political culture and associated structures have allowed traditionally excluded groups, such as women, ethnic and religious minorities, indigenous and young people to have only limited access to the political realm. With expectations low, the pressures on parties to become more responsive are often fragmented. The objective of the Programme is; to assist in developing and strengthening political parties so they perform as effective actors of democratization and good governance, trusted by voters, representative and responsive to public needs and concerns, contribute to public debate, are equipped to support government and a constructive opposition, thus playing a role in ensuring transparency and accountability of government. 1

2 Within this broad objective, the initial focus will be on two main areas: the external regulation and internal functioning of political parties. With the aim of enhancing knowledge on political parties, and stimulate dialogue with political parties, data collection has been initiated in approximately 40 countries during 2004, a similar number of countries will follow in The number of countries could expand to 100 during the course of The first questionnaire is a country context exercise with 20 questions to frame the political and developmental situation in each country. Many of these questions are rich in text. The second questionnaire is on external regulation of political parties (laws, regulations, standards) and contains 38 Qs, mostly with fixed response alternatives but where texts need to be tied to these response alternatives. The third questionnaire is on the internal functioning of political parties, i.e. the rules and regulations that parties do, or don t impose on themselves. The total number of questions here is 90. We are researching 3-4 political parties in each country, and in each political party we will interview 4-6 people. A summary of the research findings is produced in each country, approximately 10 pages long. This country report is structured for comparative purposes and needs to be included in the database. Research is based on an exploratory approach, with information about many countries still to be entered into the database, and considerable conceptual and practical effort still remaining in the area of comparative analysis and synthesis of the data. IDEA is working with many regional and national partners in the data collection process. These partners will have access to the full data from the data collection and easy transfer of data to partners will be essential for the analysis of the data. Other partners are involved in the analysis and dissemination of the data and also need easy access to the data. 2. Purpose of the Action International IDEA is involved both alone and in partnership with other organisations and actors with the design, maintenance and management of web based information and database services. To facilitate this work, IDEA will recurrently require, either on long or short term basis, to contract technical expertise in database and website construction, development and maintenance. The consultant/s will suggest options and provide agreed solutions for the overall database and website construction, development and maintenance - to support IDEA s work on political parties. This also includes organisation of IDEA s data, generated from the three questionnaires and other sources as outlined under: 1. The Context above - into a database. Easy transfer of data, and automatic update of data, from the database to the website is essential, which underlines the importance of the interface between the database and website. Easily accessible research findings, topical discussion papers, and material with applicable best practices are key outputs. The expected results by 2007 of the PP component are: a. Sets of options for enhancing the effectiveness of political parties as actors in democratisation and for improving their accountability are developed and tested in at least two regions. 2

3 b. Best practice experience on changes in political parties management practices (internal democracy, policy development methods, quotas, etc.), as well as in their relations with civil society, is compiled and shared among key actors. c. Tools for enhancing the access to political representation, influence and engagement through political parties of traditionally underrepresented groups such as women, youth and minorities, are developed and tested. d. General principles on norms, basic standards and guidelines on the role, conduct and functioning of political parties, voluntary or legally enforced, for both legislative and internal reforms are defined by a critical mass of political actors in newer and established democracies in at least two regions. The outputs of the program will be disseminated by IDEA and partner organisations - and through the various networks of political parties that IDEA work with, particularly those networks built during the regional research projects. IDEA will provide information on demand to countries and parties engaged in reform. The actions of this terms of reference aim at establishing the database and website. Aspects of development of the website in terms of design and communication aspects are foreseen to continue and be part of the next phase of the assignment. The time period for this terms of reference is April to 31 December, The next phase is anticipated to cover the period , and will be subject to a later tender process. 3. Description of the Tasks and Activities The consultant shall in completing the assignment fulfill the following requirements for establishing the database and website. The database must be: - Able to cater for large amount of data while remaining stable - estimated amount of data through questionnaires and country report for 100 countries comes to a total of 2 GB - engineered to include basic analytical functions, e.g. percentage, crosstabulation, frequencies etc, and search functions, to be attached to the database on the website, without application of software like SPSS, excel etc. - Neutral in format so that the database is compatible with software for analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, such as SPSS, Excel etc. - Able to support user-friendly graphical presentations, such as tables, charts and maps, on the website - User-friendly for IDEA staff and partners to code, enter, edit and update data in the future 3

4 - Designed to allow for different levels of access to data, regulated via password, and with easy access for outside researchers with varying clearance for accessing the data - Compatible with the new IDEA website technical platform and future and IDEA s Resources Centre (under development) - Designed so that it is easy to select and export parts of the outputs of the database for publication on IDEA s website - Compatible with other software and web presentations that IDEA uses - Cost efficient The website must be: - Able to cater for large amount of data while remaining stable - Fully compatible with the database for transfer and update of data and graphic presentations - Use as its basis for design the existing technical platform of the new IDEA website, to ensure cost efficiency - Able to generate and illustrate user-friendly graphical presentations of the output from the database - such as tables, charts, maps - Designed to allow for extensive and user-friendly communication with users of the Political Party website - Designed to allow for different levels of access to the web environment, regulated via password - Easy to access for outside users with different levels of access to the web environment, including browser support - Compatible with future use in web-based interfaces and IDEA s Resources Centre (under development) - Designed so that it is easy to select and import parts of the outputs of the database and analysis for publication on IDEA s public website - Compatible with other software and web presentations that IDEA makes use of Outputs: The consultant shall in fulfilling the above requirements deliver the database, website and interface between the database and website by providing the following outputs. 4

5 The consultant will liaise with the relevant staff at IDEA to ensure compatibility of the database and website with other IDEA requirements during the course of implementing the assignment. The consultant will provide a detailed time-plan and budget for the costefficient implementation of all outputs specified in this terms of reference. Server: Provide the different options of hosting the database and website on a Linux, Microsoft or other - server and suggest the option best suitable for IDEA s work on political parties. The amount of data from questionnaires and country report for 100 countries is approximately 2 GB. The server then needs to have capacity to cater for this material, additional graphic presentation of analysis and for the website itself. Implement the database and website functions on the server choosen Database: Suggest the database option (Sql, Mysql, Oracle Access or other) that best caters for IDEA s work on political parties. Consult with relevant IDEA staff on existing database, software and website solutions to ensure that the database for the Political Parties Programme is compatible with existing systems at IDEA, and cost efficient in implementation Implement purchase and setup of the new database Present options for programming the database and the functions of the administrative interface that allow for various analytic functions like frequency, percentage, cross-tabulation, search functions and others. These functions shall be free for website users and not subject to licenses and fees from software manufacturers (cf. for a more basic solution of database presentation at website) Program the database so that the agreed upon analytical and search functions are operational on the database and possible to use at the Political Party website. Input of already colleted data into the database, approximately 40 countries Ensure that data from the three questionnaires and the country reports can be combined and cross examined Have the database operational for analysis of data by 9 May, Carry out easy transfer of analysis in the form of charts, tables, graphs and so on from the database for presentation at the website Ensure automatic transfer of future data collection into the database by redesigning of the existing questionnaires for data collection so that the questionnaires can be filled out online (see appendix X for questionnaires) Ensure that the database allows for easy transfer of data to other software for analysis Establishment of password-regulated levels of data access Assist IDEA in the initial analysis of data and advice on forms of presentation The relevant training to IDEA staff on input of data and other database tasks shall be provided by the consultant. 5

6 Maintenance and update of database during Data on countries will require frequent update and changes, text documents will require less frequent updates. Website: Build the website on the existing technical platform of the IDEA website Present, to IDEA s team on political parties, for discussion and approval a basic design of the Political Parties website Have a draft version of the new website ready by 1 June, 2005 Have the finished website ready for public launch by 1 August, 2005 Continued design and development of the Political Parties website as appropriate according to the needs of the Political Parties program, including solutions, if necessary, beyond that provided by the technical platform of the IDEA website. In doing so, the consultant will provide solutions for using: - Search functions on the Political Party website - Suggest, without implementation at this stage, profiling of the website based on different categories of users (party member, constitutional lawyer, journalist, researcher, activists, donors) - Provide a function that continuously tests links to ensure that they are alive. Ensures that website is continuously updated. - Flash macromedia rollover function to avoid unnecessary clicking on links to navigate the site, user friendly Development and maintenance of adequate redundancy and backups for the Political Parties document collection and databases; prepare for providing availability to access the Political parties website in remote locations, and make recommendations for possible Political Parties regional satellite servers. Support for and maintenance of project infrastructure; development and maintenance of project mailing list. Provide technical solutions for data exposure on the website. Offer technical assistance with Political Parties researchers, managers, and partner organizations as required. Explore alternative graphing or visualization methods for comparison of data. Implement detailed traffic analysis for Political Parties public site with monthly summaries. Establish a Political Parties "Knowledge Network" by suggesting public and private interfaces for communication between IDEA, partners and users of the website. Ensure that the Political Parties program remains a valuable, relevant tool to its community of users Fulfill the following design criteria: - Operationally oriented, designed for the practitioner Attractive and userfriendly on the web - Highly compartmentalized, for ease of translation 6

7 - Carefully structured, indexed and searchable - Widely accessible and retrievable - Printer-friendly 4. Management and Organisation The relevant training for data input or other respective tasks shall be provided by the consultant. The consultant will be available for support on phone and 1 hour/day. 5. Timing and Workplan The assignment will commence in April, The activities should be completed 31 December, Reporting The Consultant will submit the following reports: a. Inception Report: shall outline the proposed approach and final time frame for the implementation of the services and shall be submitted by 15 May, b. Final Report: shall be submitted upon completion of the services and shall describe how the services have been performed and include the Consultant s final considerations and recommendations. 7. Budget The total indicative budget for the assignment is EURO Costs for purchase of relevant software and computer equipment will be paid by IDEA through a separate process. 8. Payment The payment shall be made according to the following schedule: - an advance payment, representing 50 percent of the fee, upon submission and acceptance by International IDEA of the Inception Report; - a final payment, representing 50 percent of the fee, upon submission and acceptance by International IDEA of the Final Report. 7