Foundation for Democratic Advancement
| Upcoming FDA Project in Lethbridge, Alberta |
|
"Lethbridge Public Empowerment" project
Project Information:
Project Title: Lethbridge Public Empowerment
Project Location: Local: Lethbridge: whole city (citizen panels)
Project Summary:Summary of Lethbridge Public Empowerment Project: Project to act as a bridge between the people of Lethbridge and municipal political representatives, in light of 77.4% of Lethbridge eligible voters not voting in the 2007 municipal election. In implementing the project, the FDA will determine why most Lethbridge citizens don't vote. Also, the FDA will determine the basic overall priorities of Lethbridge (in terms of municipal policies and expenditure), and use those priorities as a basis to evaluate the expenditures and policies of the candidates in the 2010 Lethbridge municipal election. (1 citizen panel, reflecting a cross-section of Lethbridge, will be formed to access and assess public opinion about Lethbridge's priorities and why most Lethbridge citizens don't vote. Other means to access public opinion, including on-line survey and door-to-door survey. 2 other citizen panels will be formed (independent of each other) to evaluate the candidates in the 2010 Lethbridge municipal election. The panels will use the established priorities as a basis to evaluate the candidates.
Main feature of the project: Democratic Dialogue and Constitutional Processes
Marginalized or Vulnerable Groups: Addressing the needs of marginalized or vulnerable groups is a key objective of the project.
The needs of marginalized groups are critical to the project, because those needs will help form the basic, overall priorities of Lethbridge citizens. To not include a segment of the Lethbridge public in the project would weaken the credibility of the results. The more, diverse participation in the project, the more credible the project will be, and consequently the more impact the project will have. Hence, the FDA has a significant interest in including all segments of the Lethbridge public in the project.
Project Description:
Problem being addressed: Lethbridge suffers from extremely low voter turnout, as illustrated by the 22.6% voter turnout in the 2007 Lethbridge municipal election. The purpose of the project is to bridge the disconnection between the Lethbridge people and the municipal government. The connection of the people and government is a fundamental tenet of democracy, through the principle of government of, by and for the people. Without that connection, democracy is undermined.
Objectives/Purpose: Promote greater inclusion of the Lethbridge public in the political process. Encourage increased political empowerment of the Lethbridge public. Help inform the Lethbridge public about democracy and their political representatives. Create greater accountability of political representatives. (Note, there can't be accountability of public representatives if the public is not informed and most of them don't vote.)
Key Activities:
Outputs/Deliverable Products:
Results/Outcomes:
Monitoring and Evaluation: Measurement will be by comparative analysis techniques and survey/interview. The project will measure public participation in the political process and changes in government policies and expenditures. The FDA will be responsible for measuring.
Innovation: The project is innovative, because of its understanding and approach to accountability. The FDA realizes that greater accountability of political representatives can only come from a better informed public and a public which votes. Consequently, the FDA uses citizen panels, public forums, and evaluation methodology to understand, inform and activate the public and increase public participation in the electoral process.
Sustainability: The achievements will be maintained by performing subsequent evaluation reports on the next Lethbridge municipal election and reassessment of the Lethbridge public's basic priorities. Also, the FDA will maintain a website on the results of the project.
|