Foreword -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Executive summary -- About this Guide -- PART I: Political party dialogue: general characteristics -- Chapter 1: Defining political party dialogue -- Chapter 2: The role of a facilitator -- Chapter 3: Assessing the political environment -- PART II: Political party dialogue in practice -- Chapter 4: Dialogue stages and dynamics -- Chapter 5: Setting goals and agendas -- Chapter 6: Supporting political reform and national development -- Chapter 7: Timing and the electoral cycle -- Chapter 8: Designing a dialogue's organizational structure -- Chapter 9: The rules of the dialogue game -- Chapter 10: Building trust between political parties -- Chapter 11: Consensus building through structured dialogue -- Chapter 12: Internal party communication and preparation -- PART III: Inclusive dialogue -- Chapter 13: Deciding which political parties to invite to the dialogue -- Chapter 14: Choosing political party dialogue representatives -- Chapter 15: Equal participation and representation of women and men -- Chapter 16: Minority representation and diversity -- Chapter 17: Engaging with civil society organizations and the media -- Chapter 18: Concluding remarks: moving beyond the handshake -- Appendix 1: Case studies -- Appendix 2: Considerations when designing a political party dialogue process -- Acronyms and abbreviations -- References -- Endnotes -- Colophon.

Political parties and organizations need to have the capacity to both compete and cooperate. Dialogue among political parties usually takes place within democratic institutions such as national parliaments. Yet parliamentary dialogue alone cannot always meet the need for genuine exploration of consensus or compromise. Correspondingly, this Guide focuses on the need for more dynamic spaces of dialogue between political parties. Building on case studies from different countries, the Guide will enable actors to: assess the general conditions for political party dialogues; build trust; convene and organize dialogues; set their goals and prepare their agenda; facilitate their smooth evolution through various stages; ensure meaningful results and; last but not least, foster the implementation of the understandings and agreements reached.