TAI Weekly

TAI Weekly | Democratic Governance in Age of Scale and AI

By TAI (Role at TAI)
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TAI Weekly

Dear readers,

Another week, a whole new set of stories, research, events on things trust, accountability and inclusion related - everything from navigating civic space from Algeria to the United States, to transparency of AI models, to participation by chatbot, to responsible funder exits.

But we start in Uganda, and note that, for election observers, 2026 looks set to continue a well established trend with reelection of an elderly incumbent. President Museveni was officially accorded close to 72% of the vote, despite widespread concerns about the process, including an Internet blackout in days running up to the vote. Evelyn Namakula Mayanja argues that an autocratic political system is failing its people and that a “youth-led struggle for democracy in Uganda reflects a broader continental reality: young Africans are demanding accountable leadership that reflects national potential rather than elite survival.” 

Happy reading!

TAI team

What's New

The Global Organized Crime Index now tracks criminal actors and markets while measuring institutional resilience, providing reporters and lawmakers with tools to identify trends and risks related to illicit financial flows and corruption.

Media Development Investment Fund explores how media can drive civic engagement through new-generation information systems. The piece provides insights into the evolving relationship between journalism and democratic participation.

Last week, we covered the exemption granted to the United States in relation to the global minimum tax treaty. Now the OECD offers a technical webinar to explain how the "Side-by-Side" agreement is meant to work. 

The Trump administration’s reversal of U.S. global anti-corruption policy marks a sharp break from past progress. McKenzie Carrier and Thomas Carothers outline the rollback and argue that other governments, multilateral bodies, and philanthropies can help mitigate the damage.

The International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations has released a critical new publication arguing that rethinking human rights work now is vital not just to its survival, but more importantly, to the protection of human rights everywhere.

For those interested in dark money and its influence on democratic systems, a recording is now available of last week’s book discussion on "Opus: Dark Money, a secretive cult, and its mission to remake our world."

Jessica Abrahams examines how U.S. nonprofits can defend themselves in an increasingly hostile environment, drawing lessons from civil society resilience strategies deployed in other parts of the world.

New research from Stanford's Center for Research on Foundation Models reveals that transparency among foundation model developers is declining, particularly around AI training data, compute resources, and post-deployment usage and impact.

Dr. Petra Kuenkel argues that the polycrisis represents an economic design problem rooted in how we have come to experience the economy as a force of nature rather than a human-made system. Her analysis offers pathways from complaint to collective agency, with particular attention to how feminist economies can transform current economic structures.

“From Maze to Mandala: Reimagining Civic and Democratic Futures” reflects on TAI’s 2025 Learning Days in Berlin, which brought together funders and activists to move beyond diagnosing democratic challenges and focus on inspiration, connection, and ways forward. The debriefing pack captures key discussions on strengthening civic space, democratic renewal, and participatory governance.

ESSENTIAL LISTENING:

The EU SEE podcast series "Voices of Civil Society Resilience" features a French-language episode on navigating civic space under pressure in Algeria, with reflections on resilience strategies in challenging environments.

From Our Members

FORD FOUNDATION: Has appointed Nicholas Turner as executive vice president for programs. Turner will join Ford's executive leadership team in May to steward the strategic impact of programmatic work across the foundation's New York headquarters and ten regional offices.

PACKARD FOUNDATION: Featured Kelly Born, Director of Democracy, Rights & Governance, on Yascha Mounk's podcast "The Good Fight" to discuss how AI is reshaping democratic systems. The conversation explores the multifaceted ways artificial intelligence is changing politics and governance.

TAI SECRETARIAT: Women’s political representation has increased, but real political power has not. TAI's latest report, “Changing the Rules of the Game," explains why women remain excluded from decision-making and what this means for funders working on democracy, gender, and governance. Drawing on Global South practitioner evidence, the report shows why structural barriers, not capacity gaps, continue to block progress. Talk to us about how this changes the funding strategy.

ESSENTIAL READING: 

How can systems thinking deepen and improve responses to illicit financial flows? Our blog from Søren Vester Haldrup offers answers and is essential reading for those interested in countering the stealthy movement of money that is stolen, laundered, or hidden from public authorities across borders. See the link to a longer PDF version for deeper detail.

TOOLS AND TRENDS FOR FUNDERS

Alliance Magazine has launched a new series on collective and collaborative giving models, commissioned by Philanthropy Together. The inaugural article sketches the current state of the field and explores opportunities this form of philanthropy offers, arguing it represents more than money and more than traditional philanthropy.

What does a responsible philanthropic exit look like? Charlotte Timson and Joanna Heywood share best practices for foundations and donors considering how to wind down funding relationships in ways that honor commitments and support organizational sustainability. Also, check out TAI's Library for more studies about responsible exits.

In the mood for crystal ball gazing? Reimagining Philanthropy's recent piece explores challenges and opportunities facing the sector in 2026, while the Dorothy A. Johnson Center identifies 11 key trends shaping giving this year. Inside Philanthropy's David Callahan offers a candid assessment of what his team predicted correctly and incorrectly for 2025.

The Center for High Impact Philanthropy at the University of Pennsylvania has released its 2026 High Impact Giving Toolkit, providing individual donors and professional grantmakers with actionable guidance for maximizing philanthropic impact year-round.

ESSENTIAL WATCHING: 

The National Democratic Institute has released a creative spoken word piece on Kenya's public debt, performed by Voice of Dagoretti. The poem, which draws from NDI's Political Economy Analysis, uses art to engage communities on governance issues and makes complex debt dynamics accessible through creative expression.

Focused Topic of the Week

The Quality Question: Reimagining Democratic Institutionalization in the Age of Scale and AI

Democracy today faces a fundamental question about institutionalization. Yannina Welp's challenge to conventional thinking reveals that the real issue isn't whether democracy needs more formal structures, but whether it needs better ones—a distinction that cuts to the heart of why so many participatory experiments in Latin America have failed to deliver on their transformative promises. Her multidimensional framework recognizes that durability, legitimacy, and actual impact cannot be achieved through legal formality alone, suggesting that the architecture of participation matters less than the quality of its design and implementation.

This insight resonates with emerging evidence about how democratic innovations actually spread and take root. Research from DemocracyNext shows that scaling deliberative democracy depends not on replicating institutional forms, but on cultivating what they call "scaling catalysts". The interviews with 22 leaders across three continents reveal that successful democratic innovation requires more than good intentions or impressive pilot projects; it demands strategic thinking about how participatory practices can adapt while maintaining their essential character.

Yet even as we grapple with questions of institutional quality and scaling, the technological landscape is fundamentally reshaping what democratic participation means. Carnegie Endowment researchers Rachel George and Ian Klaus have mapped the multiple pathways through which artificial intelligence is already influencing democratic life—from elections and citizen deliberation to government services and social cohesion. Their framework suggests that AI isn't simply a tool that democracy can choose to adopt or reject, but rather a force that is actively reconfiguring the terrain on which democratic politics unfolds.

People Powered recount Bogotá's achievement of gathering 216,599 citizen inputs for urban development planning through a chatbot. The scale of participation is unprecedented, showing how digital tools can lower barriers to engagement in ways that traditional town halls or comment periods never could. Yet this success immediately raises Welp's deeper question: does gathering hundreds of thousands of inputs through an automated interface represent better institutionalization of participatory democracy, or merely more of it? 

The challenge ahead is not choosing between participation and representation, between analog and digital, or between more democracy and better democracy—but rather developing the analytical frameworks and practical wisdom to navigate all of these dimensions simultaneously.

JOBS

CALLS

  • Apolitical in partnership with the Open Government Partnership offers a free course for public servants on Open Government: How to Be Transparent, Participatory and Accountable.

  • Two ScaleDem open calls are now live through 31 March 2026, offering eligible organizations across Europe and beyond funding, mentorship and peer learning to scale democratic innovations. The Piloting Programme supports bold new ideas with up to €100,000, and the Twinning Programme offers up to €65,500 for mentor–mentee communities adapting proven approaches. 

  • Knight Center For Journalism: Free, on-demand online course on "A better way to cover civic life through listening" for journalists in all regions, offered by the Solutions Journalism Network. 

  • Mozilla Foundation is seeking nominations to identify the next generation of technology leaders through its 2026 Mozilla Fellows program. Nominations Close on January 30, 2026.

  • Keseb’s Democracy Innovation Lab is backing early-stage ideas that reimagine the foundations of democracy. Its first iLab will support 10 community-building initiatives that strengthen inclusion and cross-group belonging. Submit a pitch by February 2, 2026 (11:59 PM ET).

  • The call for workshop proposals for the 2026 International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) is now open. Under the theme "Igniting the Power of Integrity," the conference will take place in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, from December 1-4, 2026. Professionals, civil society groups, activists, journalists, academics, and practitioners worldwide are invited to submit proposals by February 23, 2026. 

  • The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative is accepting proposals for partner sessions at its Global Conference set for June 24-25 in the Philippines. Deadline is January 30, 2026.

 CALENDAR

We’d love to hear from you on how we can further improve TAI Weekly to better serve your needs in program management on the transparency, accountability, improved grantmaking and civic space. Please direct your feedback to [email protected] or

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