The Center's Democracy Program is founded on the belief that strengthening democratization is the best means to advance human rights, support sustainable economic opportunity, and resolve political conflicts. The program's goals are to support democratic transitions and consolidation through projects involving election observation and mediation, technical assistance to civil society organizations working on democracy and elections, and efforts to advance the rule of law and adherence to standards for democratic elections based on international human rights law. The program is deeply committed to the protection and advancement of broad-based human rights values and inclusive political participation.
Internships are available in the following areas:
The Democracy Program’s election observation activities focus on countries that are undergoing transitional elections, emerging from conflict, and/or at risk of backsliding in their democratization process. As of January 2020, the Democracy Program has monitored 110 elections in 39 countries, including recent missions in Tunisia, Zimbabwe, and Sierra Leone, as well as two Native American nations.
Expected Projects
The Democracy Program currently provides long-term support to civil society partner organizations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Liberia, Tunisia, Myanmar, and Honduras to bolster their ability to foster credible elections, promote equal political participation, expose corruption, and promote confidence in democratic processes and institutions. These projects provide technical and financial assistance to partner organizations to conduct citizen observation projects while strengthening their development. In between election cycles, citizen observation organizations can apply knowledge and resources developed during election observation work to advocate for electoral reform. Such activities could include supporting increased youth engagement, monitoring violence against women in elections (VAWE) and women’s participation, political transition monitoring, traditional and social media monitoring, conflict and electoral violence tracking, strengthening the participation of marginalized groups, assessing the quality of key parts of the electoral process, and reporting to international human rights bodies.
Expected Projects
The Carter Center's Democracy Program, recognizing the growing digital challenges to democratic systems, invites applications for internships within its Digital Threats to Democracy initiative. This program offers an exceptional opportunity to explore and address the complex effects of social media on democracy, including challenges like content moderation and the pervasive influence of mis/disinformation. We're searching for innovative and motivated interns, passionate about preserving electoral integrity in the digital era and equipped with skills in software coding, qualitative or quantitative research methods, data analysis, or data visualization. Interns will engage in meaningful activities, such as program evaluation, thought leadership, and original research, contributing significantly to developing innovative strategies that enhance democratic resilience against digital threats. Join us in this critical endeavor to uphold the integrity of democratic processes.
(Qualifications depend on current program needs and sometimes vary across projects.)
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Spring 2025
Application Deadline: Oct. 14, 2024
Start Date (Orientation): Jan. 14, 2025
Summer 2025
Application Opens: Early January 2025
Applications Deadline: March 3, 2025
Start dates: May 20, 2025 or May 27, 2025