Foundation for Democratic Advancement
| 2008 FDA Year in Review |
| 2008 FDA Studies Completed:
4 Elections: 2008 US Presidential Election, 2008 Canadian Federal Election--Kootenay-Columbia Riding, 2008 Alberta Provincial
Election, 2008 Cranbrook Mayoral Election
1 Land Development: Baker Mountain
2 Social Issues: 2008 Taiwan Referendum on Taiwan application for United Nations under the name "Taiwan", 2008 Beijing Olympics
2008 US Presidential Election:
There is a clear, profound discrepancy in the US Presidential election results and the FDA's study results. Mr. Nader
received the FDA's highest candidate grade ever, 80.6%, and yet he received only .52% of the US popular vote and zero Electoral College votes. In contrast,
Mr. Obama was ranked third by the FDA with a grade of 55.6%, and yet he won the US election with 52.6% of the US popular vote
and 364 Electoral College votes out of 526. Moreover, Mr. Obama received support from only 33.71% of the US electorate, while 66.29% of the US electorate did not support him.*
* This result is based on combining those Americans who voted, 64.1%, with those Americans who did not vote, 35.9%.
Comparative Evaluation of Ranking/Grading and Election Results
Mr. Abbott of the Conservative Party of Canada was ranked first along with Mrs. Aitchson of the Liberal Party of Canada, with
FDA grades of 60.4%. Yet Mr. Abbott received a winning vote margin of 26.95% over second place, Mr. Pendleton, and Mr. Abbott
received 59.59% of the popular vote. Mrs. Aitchson who finished third received only 7.7% of the popular vote, and Mr. Pendleton received 22.64% of the popular vote and a FDA grade of 57.7%.
Also, despite Mr. Abbott's majority win, he received only 36.07% support from the electorate, which is less than the number
of the electorate who did not vote, 39.5%, and far less than the majority he received (59.59%).
Comparative Evaluation of Ranking/Grading and Election Results
The PCAlberta party was ranked fourth by the FDA with a failing grade of 43.6%, and yet the party received 52.7% of the Alberta vote and 72 out of 83 legislative seats. Moreover, the two parties with passing FDA grades, Wildrose 63.5% and the Alberta Liberals
63.2%, received between them 33.2% of the Alberta vote and 9 legislative seats.
The Alberta election had a low voter turnout of 41%. As a result, the PCAlberta party received only 21.6% support from the
electorate, which means 78.4% of the electorate did not support the party.
Comparative Evaluation of Ranking and Election Results
Mr. Manjak won the Cranbrook Mayoral race with 2254 votes, ahead of Mr. Stetski with 2050 votes and Mr. York with 119 votes.
However, the FDA ranked Mr. Manjak third with a grade of 58.1%, which was .3% behind Mr. York's grade of 58.4% and 17.5% behind Mr. Stetski's grade of 75.6%. Also, with a voter turnout of 30%, Mr. Manjak received only 15.28% support from the electorate, which means 84.7% of the electorate did not support him. Further, Mr. York received only .8% support from the electorate, 94.8% less support than Mr. Manjak received.
Comparative Evaluation of Ranking/Grading and Election Results
Baker Mountain:
The Baker Mountain Land Development received an overall negative quality of life grade of 48.5%. The area of Cranbrook and
the adjacent surrounding areas to the development received negative grades, of 35.2% and 25.3%, in key areas such as water
and air quality.
The BC government on grounds of outstanding multiple significant issues, rejected the Baker Mountain Land Development.
The FDA's quality of life results were consistent with the development's rejection.
FULL REPORT (pdf file) of the FDA Baker Mountain quality of life assessment.
2008 Taiwan Referendum:
Based on Taiwan's identity/existence, the FDA scored 71.6% to 35% in favour of Taiwan independence over Taiwan absorption
into China. However, only 35.8% of Taiwaneses participated in the referendum on Taiwan’s application for United Nations membership under the name "Taiwan", and consequently the referendum was invalid because the minimum threshold of 50% was not reached. The invalidity of the referendum can be viewed as a missed opportunity to move Taiwan closer to independence.
Perhaps the survivability of
Taiwan's identity/existence is not realistic, due to for example the strong natural economic ties between China and Taiwan,
and the growing power of China politically and militarily.
Comparative Evaluation of the FDA Evaluation and Referendum Results
Even though the FDA determined from a human rights standpoint that China is not worthy of hosting the Olympics, the FDA also
determined that athlete rights should proceed human rights in terms of the Olympics. Also, the FDA determined that full
participation in the Beijing Olympics was the third best action by Western countries. Questions are raised as to why for
instance the American, Canadian, and Dutch governments adopted full participation policies instead of boycotting the opening ceremony, and why the IOC awarded China the Olympics.
FULL EVALUATION AND RANKING DOCUMENT (pdf file) by the FDA evaluation committee.
The FDA conducted electoral studies at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels of government.
The FDA's land development was limited to rural development, and the FDA's social studies focused on significant international issues.
Based on the FDA's 2008 electoral studies, democracy in North America is flawed. These studies show problems stemming from low voter turnout and highly questionable decision-making by voters. The main repercussion is third and even fourth best
candidates/parties representing the people. Consequently, the people, whether nationally or locally, are faced with weaker
leadership and poorer policies.
The FDA's land development result and the ensuing BC government decision-making demonstrate an effective development process.
However, quality of life assessments do not exist in the BC development process, and the BC government's decision-making may
not always be objective.
Regarding the FDA's social study on the Beijing Olympics, the soundness of the decision-making of some western governments like the American, Canadian and Dutch, and the IOC are questionable.
The issue of Taiwan's identity/existence remains unresolved, while Taiwan has moved closer to being absorbed into China through the invalid 2008 referendum. Though it is not the FDA's place to tell a people, like the Taiwanese, that it is worth fighting for their identity/existence.
Overall, the FDA's 2008 studies show an imperfect world, in which there are areas, like western democracy, in need of more
attention than others.
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