Eric Bjornlund is an adjunct professor with Georgetown University’s M.A. Program in Democracy and Governance, teaching “Democracy, Governance, and Stabilization,” and “Democracy Promotion and Democratic Theory.” Mr. Bjornlund is also co-founder and principal of Democracy International. A lawyer and development professional with two decades of international experience, Mr. Bjornlund has designed, managed, and evaluated democratic development programs in 30 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Eurasia, and the Middle East. He has worked in the areas of international and domestic election monitoring, election systems and administration, political party building, legislative development, constitutional and legal reform, decentralization, women’s political empowerment, civil-military relations, civic and voter education, and civil society advocacy. He has extensive experience with assessments, evaluations, project designs, democracy assistance studies, and survey research and has led projects in emerging democracies, semiauthoritarian countries, postconflict societies, and failed and failing states. Mr. Bjornlund currently serves as Senior Technical Advisor for Democracy International’s indefinite quantity contracts for Elections and Political Processes and Democracy and Governance Analytical Services.
From 1989 to 2000, Mr. Bjornlund worked for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) in various senior positions in Washington and overseas. As Senior Associate and Asia Director (1994-95, 1996-2000), he developed and managed democracy and governance programs in 14 countries in South, Southeast, and East Asia. As NDI Country Director (Chief of Party) in Indonesia (1999-2000), he developed and oversaw a multimillion-dollar USAID-funded program in support of elections, election monitoring, political parties, legislative strengthening, and NGO advocacy in the world’s largest predominately Muslim country. He also served as Country Director (Chief of Party) in the West Bank and Gaza (1995-96), Director of Program Coordination and General Counsel (1992-95), and Senior Program Officer (1989-92) at NDI. From 2000 to 2001, Mr. Bjornlund was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. In 2004, he served as Field Office Director for The Carter Center in Indonesia, where he directed a comprehensive international election monitoring program. Earlier in his career, he practiced corporate and international law for four years at Ropes & Gray in Boston, Massachusetts, one of the nation’s largest law firms.
Mr. Bjornlund has written and spoken extensively about transitional and postconflict elections, democratization, legal reform, and international democracy promotion. He is author of Beyond Free and Fair: Monitoring Elections and Building Democracy (Washington, Baltimore and London: Wilson Center Press and Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004), which explores the history and evolution of international and domestic election monitoring and offers insight into how the international community can more successfully advance democracy around the world. He also has published numerous book chapters, articles, essays, and assessment reports. Mr. Bjornlund has testified on many occasions before Congress and the United Nations and has spoken at conferences and universities throughout the world. He has served as an expert on election commissions and election monitoring for the U.S. State Department and has appeared on television and radio in the U.S. and abroad, including on the BBC, C-SPAN, CNN, National Public Radio, Voice of America, and other media outlets.
Mr. Bjornlund holds a J.D. from Columbia University, an M.P.A. from John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a B.A. magna cum laude from Williams College.
Academic Appointment(s)
- Primary
- Adjunct Professor, M.A. Program in Democracy and Governance