IIE’s USAID-funded Democracy Fellows and Grants (DFG) Program is seeking input from experts on the design of an upcoming research grant opportunity to support USAID’s Center of Excellence for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG Center) in developing Theories of Change (TOC) in democratization. Understanding key transition points in the process of democratization is crucial to USAID’s strategic planning and program development process, and the TOC Research Grant Project will identify and develop TOCs that can increase the return on USAID’s DRG investments.

Prior to issuing the solicitation for research grants, IIE is seeking feedback on the design and content of the TOC Research Grant Project from researchers and academic experts in the field of democratization. Responses are due Thursday, August 8, 2013, at 5pm EST. Responses to individual questions can be submitted via this form; longer responses to the overall project design should be emailed to dem.grants@iie.org.

In soliciting input on four key questions and feedback on the overall design of the research project, USAID’s DRG Center is looking to develop TOCs that will allow it to design effective DRG programs. USAID wants to be better able to determine, for example: 

• What sparks the downfall of a relatively rich Arab authoritarian regime.
• What elements contribute to the rapid breakdown of a relatively stable African democracy.
• What accounts for the marked differences in authoritarian military regime change from one country to the next, from Asia to Africa to Latin America.
• Within all of this, where USAID’s DRG programming can have the greatest positive impact.

After the expert feedback is incorporated, IIE will announce a solicitation for applications for research grants. The dates and deadlines for applications will be available on the USAID Democracy Fellows and Grants Program website. Interested applicants are encouraged to contact dem.grants@iie.org to receive email alerts when new grant opportunities are published.

IIE’s DFG Research and Innovation Grants program is intended to strengthen the quality of USAID-funded democracy promotion work globally by integrating the knowledge and skills of the academic community in the design and evaluation of that work. IIE will publish several research grant opportunities in the DRG fields during the five years of the DFG program (September 2012 – September 2017).