National Endowment for Democracy

The National Endowment for Democracy is a quasi-governmental foundation created by the Reagan Administration in 1983 to channel millions of Federal dollars into anti-Communist ''private diplomacy.'' Its bylaws require ''openness'' and ''public accountability'' in its stewardship of millions of dollars a year in taxpayer funds, which are distributed to labor, business, education and other groups and organizations overseas to promote democratic ideas. Today, however, for the second time in its brief existence, the endowment finds itself in trouble with Congress. Some of its ''private diplomacy,'' it turns out, has been more than private; it has been secret.