Title 22Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-73

§4411 Findings; statement of purposes

Title 22 › Chapter CHAPTER 54— - PRIVATE ORGANIZATION ASSISTANCE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY › § 4411

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Congress says there is a private nonprofit in Washington, D.C. called the National Endowment for Democracy. It is not a U.S. government agency. The Endowment has six main goals: support free democratic systems and human rights around the world; run exchanges and cooperation between U.S. private groups (especially the two major American political parties, labor, and business) and democracy groups abroad; involve U.S. nongovernmental groups in training and building democratic institutions; strengthen elections with local democratic forces; promote democratic pluralism through private cooperation; and help democratic development in ways that fit U.S. interests and the needs of the groups it funds.

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §4411

Foreign Relations and Intercourse — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Congress finds that there has been established in the District of Columbia a private, nonprofit corporation known as the National Endowment for Democracy (hereafter in this subchapter referred to as the “Endowment”) which is not an agency or establishment of the United States Government.
(b)The purposes of the Endowment, as set forth in its articles of incorporation, are—
(1)to encourage free and democratic institutions throughout the world through private sector initiatives, including activities which promote the individual rights and freedoms (including internationally recognized human rights) which are essential to the functioning of democratic institutions;
(2)to facilitate exchanges between United States private sector groups (especially the two major American political parties, labor, and business) and democratic groups abroad;
(3)to promote United States nongovernmental participation (especially through the two major American political parties, labor, business, and other private sector groups) in democratic training programs and democratic institution-building abroad;
(4)to strengthen democratic electoral processes abroad through timely measures in cooperation with indigenous democratic forces;
(5)to support the participation of the two major American political parties, labor, business, and other United States private sector groups in fostering cooperation with those abroad dedicated to the cultural values, institutions, and organizations of democratic pluralism; and
(6)to encourage the establishment and growth of democratic development in a manner consistent both with the broad concerns of United States national interests and with the specific requirements of the democratic groups in other countries which are aided by programs funded by the Endowment.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Short Title

Pub. L. 98–164, title V, § 501, Nov. 22, 1983, 97 Stat. 1039, provided that: “This title [enacting this subchapter] may be cited as the ‘National Endowment for Democracy Act’.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 4411

Title 22Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73