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In referencing and writing about external guides, technologies and organizations in this guide, we are in no way endorsing the companies or organizations that make them; nor are these references intended to imply that other tools cannot also be used. The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and its employees and consultants do not derive financial benefit from these external groups and providers.
Feedback and contact
This is a living document, and we welcome feedback, corrections and suggestions. Please contact the Democratic Governance team at NDI through our website, https://www.ndi.org/contact-us.
Published in January 2025.
Acknowledgments
Cole Speidel, NDI Senior Program Manager for Local and Regional Governance, Democratic Governance team, is the primary author and spearheaded the development of this guide.
This resource would not have been possible without the efforts of the many NDI staff, consultants and partners who, over the course of a decade, contributed to the design, implementation, evaluation and success of local governance feedback loop projects. The successes and lessons from those experiences form the basis of this guide. Particular thanks go to Andrei Rusanovschi, Andrei Strah, Martin Angeby, and Andrew Young in Moldova; Alexis Guillen and Olimpia Martinez in Mexico; Andrea Figulova and Tomas Hrustic in Slovakia; and Alexis Henriquez in El Salvador.
NDI gratefully acknowledges, for their expert review and contributions, Scott Anderson, City Administrator of the city of Ocean Shores, Washington, United States; Jonathan Fox, Director of the Accountability Research Center and Professor in the School of International Service at American University; Marian Panait, City Manager of the city of Sinaia, Romania; Andrea Figulova, NDI Program Officer, Slovakia; Alexis Guillén Monterrosa, NDI Senior Program Officer, Mexico; Aaron Azelton, NDI Director of Citizen Participation and Inclusion; Sara Hoenes, NDI Program Manager, Citizen Participation and Inclusion; Susan Markham, NDI Director of Gender, Women and Inclusion; Zuleyma Alvarez, NDI Program Manager, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Thanks also to colleagues from the Local and Regional Governance cluster within the NDI Democratic Governance team for their substantive contributions to the development of the guide at various stages: Benjamin Schmitt, for his support with the literature review and concept stage; Katherine (Kit) Evans, for her support in research, organizing and drafting; Edward Flanagan, for his organization and editing of the guide’s annexes, and Madeleine Koehn, for her administrative skills and substantive support in the final stages.
Sincere thanks to Erin Houlihan, NDI Senior Program Director, Democratic Governance, and Kristen Sample, NDI Director of Democratic Governance, for their guidance, support, and reviews.
Finally, NDI gratefully acknowledges the support of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) for making not only this guide, but also much of the Institute’s work to support two-way communications between local governments and citizens, possible.