NCSL's Institutional Capability

NCSL's International Programs Department acts as a liaison between state legislatures and international organizations, foreign embassies, and parliamentarians and government officials from other countries. The department coordinates and provides linkages between parliaments at the national and subnational levels. The department conducts technical assistance projects, organizes conferences and holds briefings on subjects such as federalism, state fiscal and public policy, and issues involving the legislative institution. In addition, the department routinely organizes study tours for public officials from other countries focused on public policy and institutional issues.

The International Programs Department:

Promotes understanding and communication among state legislators and parliament staff and members in other countries;
Encourages dialogue and the exchange of ideas on public policy issues of mutual interest;
Promotes democratic governance by providing assistance on legislative institution building;
Supports increased capacity and professionalization of legislative staff through technical assistance and the creation of professional linkages; and
Explores various models of federalism and intergovernmental relations.

Since the mid-1990’s, NCSL has conducted State Department and USAID-sponsored parliamentary staff training programs in French-speaking African countries including Bénin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Sénégal and Rwanda. In addition, NCSL has experience implementing an intensive USAID-funded legislative enhancement program for both legislators and staff in Madagascar.

Recent NCSL projects in Africa include:

Francophone Africa

Bénin, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Côte d'Ivoire, Madagascar, Mali, Niger and Rwanda - Legislative Enhancement in Francophone Africa

Building on NCSL’s previous successes in Francophone Africa, NCSL solicited a grant from the Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to undertake a program entitled “Legislative Enhancement in Francophone Africa: New Member Orientation Programs and Parliamentary Staff Associations.” This multi-phase program consists of two tracks.

(1) New Member Orientation Program: Bénin, Congo-Brazzaville, Madagascar, Mali, Niger &Rwanda: The New Member Orientation (NMO) Programs track seeks to aid in the establishment, design, and implementation of post-election new member orientation programs in several Francophone National Assemblies where elections have recently taken place or are expected in the next two years.

(2) Legislative Staff Association Program: Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar and Mali: The Parliamentary Staff Association track of this program aims to facilitate and encourage relations and discussion among parliamentary staff in the participating Francophone National Assemblies with the creation of NCSL-like Staff Sections as the final result.

This program set the preliminary framework for NCSL's ongoing Réseau Africain des Personnels des Parlements (African Network of Parliamentary Personnel, or RAPP).

Bénin, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and Niger*

The Role of Legislative Staff and Information Resources in the Legislative Process: NCSL was awarded a series of grants from USIA for senior level parliamentary staff training in Francophone West Africa. The first study tour provided a general orientation to the American legislative system and the functions performed by staff, while the workshops were able to discuss more specific staff roles in greater detail with a larger audience. It also provided a forum in which the participants could pose questions and make comments to each other in a mutually beneficial dialogue.

The Legislative Process and Staff Development: A second USIA-funded program focused on parliamentary staff training in Bénin, Cote d’Ivoire, and Mali. This workshop in Abidjan (1996) was designed according to NCSL’s Basic Skills Development Seminar model. The workshop utilized experienced legislative staff practitioners with French skills to conduct intensive sessions on particular and unique legislative staff skills. Trainers conducted highly interactive sessions on bill drafting, committee staffing, and legislative research. Ancillary sessions touched upon member-staff relations, time management, and goal-setting/mission statements.

Intern Exchange: Building on our Anglophone program experience, NCSL was awarded a third grant from USIA for a program titled “Parliamentary Staff Development in Francophone Africa: Intern Exchange” (1997 - 1998). This program, concluded in March 1998, included two phases of internships, first in Africa and then in the United States. Three legislative staff from the United States spent one month in the African countries of Bénin, Cote d’Ivoire and Mali, working with and learning from the parliamentary staff in their host Assemblies. In exchange, six legislative staff from these three African countries spent two-month internships in the United States in the state legislatures of New Jersey, Vermont and Wisconsin. During their internships in the United States, the African interns focused on several aspects of the legislative institution, including committee staffing, bill drafting and legislative research, library development, and the use of technology in the legislature.

Legislative Administration: NCSL was awarded a fourth USIA grant entitled “Parliamentary Staff Development in Francophone Africa: Legislative Administration.” This program again focused on the National Assemblies of Bénin, Cote d’Ivoire and Mali, and was divided into two phases. The first phase was a Study Tour of the United States for nine West African parliamentary administrative staff. The delegation visited the Maine and South Carolina Legislatures to discuss issues of administration and management with senior-level and key staff in those states. Visiting Washington, D.C., the delegation examined the functions of the House Chief Administrative Officer, the Architect of the Capitol, Capitol Police, and many other issues related to the maintenance and operation of the U.S. Capitol. The second phase involved a regional workshop, held in Bamako, Mali, which focused on parliamentary administrative and support services. The foci for this program included legislative budgeting, management of the institutions’ finances, personnel issues, and acquisition policies and practices.

Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad and Sénégal

Legislative Staff Functions and Information Resources: With funding from the U.S. Information Agency, NCSL undertook parliamentary staff training in four countries beginning in the fall of 1999. Similar to NCSL’s initial program in Bénin, Côte d'Ivoire and Mali, this program has served as an introduction for the staffs in these four new democracies to American legislatures and the staff services found in them. Overall, the project consisted of four main objectives: to expose the participants to different legislative systems and a variety of professionals within the legislature; to help the participants understand the role and responsibilities of staff within legislative institutions; to examine tools that staff use in their work; and to facilitate dialogue among the participants from the four countries and the United States. The primary themes for this program were organizational and management issues, member-staff relations, specific staff functions, and information resources.

Madagascar

Based on the successes of NCSL’s programs in Anglophone and Francophone Africa, and due to NCSL’s vast experience in various legislative institutions throughout Africa, NCSL coordinated with SUNY to implement a three-month intensive technical assistance training program in the National Assembly of Madagascar. This program, funded by USAID for October through December 1998, included a new member orientation program, a diagnostic study of the Assembly's committee system, a study tour to South Africa and Bénin, a review of and assistance for the Assembly's library and research capacity, a workshop on legislative committees, ethics training, introductions to public hearings, and work on press and public relations. NCSL coordinated the work of nine consultants, including U.S. state legislators and staff, in Madagascar, the majority of whom were French-speakers.

Anglophone Africa

Botswana*, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe

NCSL’s parliamentary staff development programs in Anglophone Africa were built upon an initial 1994 staff training program for senior level parliamentary staff in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The initial year included a needs assessment, a three-week U.S. study tour, and workshops in the respective countries. The program focused on broad staff service areas such as oversight, fiscal analysis, committee systems, library and information services, and research.

The second year’s program focused more closely on key staff skills as well as personnel and institutional management issues. NCSL hosted a regional workshop in Harare, Zimbabwe in June 1995. The workshop allowed staff from the six African countries to share ideas and discuss common problems. Three U.S. legislative staff members served as trainers and facilitated the discussions.

The second phase provided an opportunity for five African staffers to visit Hartford, Connecticut and to attend the NCSL Senior Legislative Research and Committee Staff professional development seminar in Denver, Colorado. The study tour took place September 14-25, 1995.

The final phase included a state legislative internship for five senior-level African staffers. The internships were held in January - February 1996. Interns from Kenya and Namibia were placed in Wisconsin; interns from Zambia and Zimbabwe were sent to Hartford, Connecticut; and an intern from Ghana was in Annapolis, Maryland. Each intern benefited from a program specifically designed to meet their professional development needs and from the opportunity to work with their American colleagues. The primary objective of the study tour was to provide an opportunity for the interns to observe how a multi-party democratic system functions.

South Africa

NCSL maintains close ties with members of the Provincial Legislatures in South Africa and is often asked to provide briefings or organize programs in the U.S. on their behalf. Delegations from South Africa regularly attend NCSL’s Annual Meetings. Recently, the secretaries of the nine provincial legislatures as well as delegation from the Northern Cape Province attended NCSL’s 1998 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas. Additionally, a delegation of members from the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) attended the Spring 1998 meeting of NCSL’s Assembly on Federal Issues (AFI). In August 1997, NCSL hosted a delegation of four South African legislators in Denver, Colorado; Washington, D.C. and Richmond, Virginia. The delegation was comprised of the Speaker of the Guateng Provincial Legislature, Mr. Trevor Fowler, as well as three members of the NCOP. The NCOP, which replaced the transitory Senate on February 4, 1997, was created by the Constitution in order to build a stronger link between National Parliament and the nine provinces. The delegation focused on federalism, with special emphasis on budgetary matters, joint oversight of the legislature, and committee staffing. NCSL has also worked closely with our contacts in South Africa in response to a growing interest in organizing a counterpart organization.

*Niger participated until 1996 when a coup d’état unseated the National Assembly and imposed a military government. Niger participated in the first two phases of the initial program but, because of the coup, was not permitted to participate in the third phase of the original program or subsequent programs.

*Botswana was not part of the official grant program but participated in the first two phases at the request and with the assistance of USIS Gaborone.

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