EISA’s fifth annual symposium was held on 23–24 November 2010 at the Protea Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa. The theme was ‘Setting Benchmarks for Enhanced Political Party
Performance for Democratic Governance in Africa’.

The inaugural EISA symposium, held in November 2006, focused on the challenges of conflict, democracy and development in Africa. The second symposium, held in October 2007, examined the prospects for sustainable democratic governance in Africa against a backdrop of endemic poverty and socio-economic inequality. The third symposium took place in October 2008 and discussed the challenges of civil society engagement with the African Peer Review Mechanism, while the fourth symposium, held in November 2009, focused on the problem of persistent violent election-related conflicts in Africa with a view to understanding the causes, magnitude and consequences for democratic governance.

The fifth symposium aimed to develop benchmarks to support political parties in young and developing democracies, not simply by providing a normative wish list but by developing
relevant, appropriate and pragmatic benchmarks to promote the long-term institutional development of democratic political systems, as well as the organisational development of political parties on the continent.