The seminars, organized by the Institute for the Study of Civil Society, cover the nuts-and-bolts of planning and running competitive campaigns. Topics include selecting candidates, creating a campaign agenda and slogans, effective use of media and advertising, and organizing a candidate’s schedule of public outreach.

The party representatives came up with most of the topics themselves, said Richard Glaub, the resident director in Uzbekistan for the National Democratic Institute (NDI), who has worked on more than 200 political campaigns. “They’re asking for specific things they know they need.”

The elections are scheduled for December of this year, when 120 seats in the Lower House of the Oliy Majlis (Parliament) will be directly elected from geographic districts.

NDI, which is funded here by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), works with international groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), think tanks such as the Institute for the Study of Civil Society and political parties. NDI has been in Uzbekistan since 2003.

NDI does not itself advocate for any specific programs. “We run an open, transparent and balanced program. We’re agnostic; it’s not our concern which is stronger or better. We offer the same advice and consultation to all of (the parties),” Glaub stated.

Along with providing information for political parties on campaign tactics, NDI has worked with NGOs that tackle a wide range of issues, such as health care, rights of orphans and people with disabilities, women’s issues and the environment. The group also consulted with various stakeholders as the Government of Uzbekistan was rewriting laws covering the work of NGOs.

“What we do find here are people who are committed to building Uzbekistan’s democracy. And we work with them,” Glaub said. “That includes people in the official structures.”

NDI works in about 70 countries around the world. While the structure of democracy takes on many forms - whether it is a US-style two-party system or very different systems in India, Botswana or Brazil - the underlying principle of democracy is that the people governed have the means to control those who govern them, Glaub said.

Among these means are active political parties that reach out to the public and try to reflect their constituents’ ideas in the election campaigns, he said.

Uzbekistan has four major, registered political parties: the People’s Democratic Party of Uzbekistan, the largest party, which was formed in November 1991 at the time of independence; the National Democratic Party “Fidokorlar” (Committed People); the Democratic Party of Uzbekistan “Milliy Tiklanish” (National Revival), which recently merged with the “Adolat” party; and the Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen - Uzbekistan Liberal Democratic Party, the newest party.

In their charters, each of the parties affirms its commitment to the ideals of democracy and acknowledges that they compete in a pluralistic society to forward their party’s positions.

Sara Buchanan, the Development Assistance Specialist who works on civil society issues for USAID in Tashkent, said the goal of NDI’s program is helping all parties strengthen their platforms. She noted that the parties and other civil society organizations have been gradually advancing the process of democratization.