Study Missions under the 2009 Grant

IRG proposed and the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has approved the following study missions using funds from the 2009 grant:

An IRG study mission will provide assistance to a multipartisan delegation of newly-elected representatives in improving the outreach, oversight, and functioning of Parliament. It will explore how committees can use open public hearings to provide information to constituents and solicit support for important policy initiatives. The mission will examine the function, staffing, and research support of committees toward developing legislation that best addresses local needs. Parliamentarians will see how legislators oversee the executive through parliamentary hearings. Based on program evaluations and the interest of the delegation, NDI could follow the study mission to the U.S. with more in depth training on some of these topics once they return to the region, including a study mission to observe other regional models, sessions with international experts, or in-country workshops.

IRI's study tour for Malaysian parliamentarians will focus on constituent services, including the relationships among federal, state, and local officials. It will bring seven Malaysians to meet with Members of Congress and federal and local officials in Washington. After a week in Washington, the delegation will meet with state and local officials in Pennsylvania to observe how state and local government officials interact with and respond to constituents on legislative issues and to discuss what they see as their roles in good governance. While in Pennsylvania, the visitors will also meet with congressional district offices and federal government regional office staff to better understand how they interact and coordinate with state and local governments.

To help build the Transitional Federal Parliament's capacity, NDI will include among the IRG delegation leading Somali legislators best suited to participate in a study mission and return with lessons to pass on to their colleagues. The visitors will observe U.S. lawmakers in their roles as public representatives, learn how Members of Congress conduct executive oversight and draft legislation, examine how they engage in constituency relations and how they incorporate public sentiment through congressional hearings, observe the legislative research process, and gain procedural and technical insights from their American counterparts. Based on evaluations and the interest of the delegation, NDI could follow the study mission to the U.S. with more in depth training on some of these topics, including a study mission to observe other regional models, sessions with international experts, or in-country workshops.

IRI's 10-day study tour will bring parliamentarians to the U.S. to draw upon American experiences with policy development at the federal and state level. The delegation will include representatives from the Democratic Party-led governing coalition, as well the reform-oriented opposition political parties on each side of the coalition. The first half of the program will be held in Washington, where the visitors will meet with the Republican and Democratic Policy Committees and the Congressional Caucus organizations to study how politicians formulate and vet policy initiatives, build congressional support around the initiatives, communicate their policy successes, and hold the government accountable for effective implementation. Additionally, the parliamentarians will meet with outside groups that play a major role in policy development, such as the American Center for Progress, Heritage Foundation, and Brookings Institution. They will learn how think tanks drive the policy development process, help legislators do their jobs, supply talking points, and build support at the grassroots level. They will also meet with organizations at the forefront of coalition politics-from the Business Roundtable to the AFL-CIO-to learn how these groups unite diverse interests and push parties to adopt their membership's positions. The second half of the study tour will include a visit to Michigan, a state at the forefront of issue advocacy and policy development. In Michigan, the Serbians will meet with state legislators and policy institutes to learn how policies are innovated, advocated and translated into legislative action or electoral action at the state level. They will also study the role that state advocacy plays in the federal policy making process.

No dates have been set for these study missions, but they will probably commence in February 2010.