The gap

Democracy assistance helps democracy’s victims — activists, journalists, prisoners. Far less of it reaches the party out of power, though the party out of power is the government of the next election, or never.

Five kinds of organization work near this ground: party-assistance institutes, campaign schools, the political-risk industry, academic measurement, and crisis-democracy networks. Each stops short of one thing — continuous, measured analysis given to opposition parties themselves, free, with the score kept in the open. OI does that.

The discipline

OI is non-profit. Everything it measures and publishes is free, and no commercial model sits behind it.

The work is open to any opposition that contests elections and keeps to constitutional politics — left, right, or centre. OI teaches method and leaves the politics to the party. It names what an opposition could do; the party decides what it will.

This is why OI holds non-partisan ground. It works for the contest, not for a contestant. It strengthens the opposition’s role so a government stays accountable and the next election stays open to whoever can win it. OI keeps its funding broad on purpose, so no single donor can shape what it finds.

Non-partisanship and charitable status

Opposition International is a non-profit organization. It is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charity in the United States (EIN 99-3087465) and a registered federal non-profit in Canada (Corporation No. 1367965-9).

OI does not support or oppose any political party, or any candidate for office. It works for the contest, not for a contestant. It measures the strength of the opposition and teaches parties to build it, and it offers that method to any opposition that keeps to constitutional politics — left, right, or centre. OI names what an opposition could do. The party decides what it will.

Everything OI measures and publishes is free. No commercial model sits behind the work, and no funder directs what the measures find. Contributions support a public good and may be tax-deductible in the United States to the extent the law allows.