Strategic Planning for Political Parties: A Practical Tool

  • Strategic planning helps political parties prepare for societal demands and democratic changes.

  • This tool provides a step-by-step methodology for strategic planning, tested by the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) in Georgia and Mozambique.

  • Strategic planning can unite members around common objectives, identify priorities for institutional strengthening, formulate strategies, and establish benchmarks.

  • Benefits of strategic planning:

    • Enhance performance and respond to changing circumstances.
    • Improve understanding and capacity for organizational learning.
    • Improve external communications and societal and political support.

  • Four phases of strategic planning for political parties:

    • Initiating and designing the planning process.
    • Internal and external analysis.
    • Drafting the plan.
    • Towards implementation.

  • Different kinds of organizational action:

    • Proactive action: Actively scan environment; anticipate environmental change.
    • Adaptive action: Recognize environmental change; make incremental change to cope.
    • Reactive action: Hit by implications of unforeseen change; experience crisis; change in response.
    • Environmentally determined change: Automatic change in response to environmental change; no influence over outcome.

  • Strategic planning involves:

    • Understanding an organization's environment is critical for improving performance and achieving goals.
    • Stakeholder analysis systematically identifies internal and external stakeholders, their perceptions, influence, and the party's offerings.
    • Emphasizes distinguishing political missions (ideological goals) from organizational missions (action-oriented purposes).
    • SWOT analysis identifies internal strengths/weaknesses and external opportunities/threats.

  • Identifying and assessing strategic issues:

    • An example of key strategic issues for a political party include:
    • How to effectively manage the organization when its membership is constantly expanding?
    • How to expand our international network and increase our international recognition?
    • How to improve the processes of recruitment and selection of candidates for elected positions?

  • Agreement on process and planning involves adopting a realistic schedule, dividing tasks, designating a project focal point, and identifying criteria for measuring success.