Upcoming FDA Project in Venezuela

"2012 Venezuela Presidential Evaluation" project Project Information: Project Title: 2012 Venezuela Presidential Evaluation Project Location: Local: Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of): whole country Project Summary: 1. Determine the basic, overall priorities of Venezuelans in terms of gov't policies and expenditure. To determine the public priorities, the FDA will form 3 citizen panels made up of a cross-section of Venezuelans. These panels (independent of each other) will chair public forums in all regions of Venezuela and evaluate the public input. The panels' findings will then be combined to determine the overall priorities of Venezuelans. Note, the priorities should reflect the collective interest of Venezuelans. 2. The established priorities will be used as a basis to evaluate the Presidential candidates in the 2012 Venezuela Presidential election. The 3 citizen panels (again independent of each other) will do detailed evaluations of each candidate in terms of their background, incumbency record, vision, and policies/promises, in order to produce a rank/grade of the candidates. The evaluation results would then be shared with the Venezuelan public, media, and political representatives. To implemement the project, the FDA will partner with local (Venezuelan) ngos, which are non-partisan and objective. 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 Venezuelans. To not include a segment of the Venezuelan public in the project would weaken the credibility of the results. Hence, the FDA has a significant interest in including all segments of the Venezuelan public in the project. Project Description: Problem being addressed: Venezuela is a divided society. The polarization has produced both political and social instability. Moreover, Venezuela's internal affairs are complicated by foreign intervention. To improve Venezuelan democracy, the division needs to be lessened. The FDA addresses this division by focusing on the collective-interest of Venezuelans. To not address this issue, Venezuelans will likely face further division, and resulting internal conflict. Also, Venezuelan democracy will likely continue to erode. Objectives/Purpose: 1. Inform the public about the 2012 Presidential candidates. 2. Hold the candidates accountable. 3. Encourage increased interest in the political process and more informed voting. 4. Create a non-partisan, objective public discourse on Venezuela's future. Key Activities: 1. Form 3 citizen panels (12 persons each) comprised of a cross-section of the public. 2. Using the citizen panels (independent of each other), conduct 60 public forums throughout Venezuela. 3. Citizen Panels evaluate the public input (including media analysis, civic reports etc.) and produce a combined report on Venezuela's public priorities. (The FDA will assist with the evaluations and provide evaluation methodology.) 4. Release the report to the public, media, and political representatives. 5. Hold public presentations on the report. 6. Setup a website for project info., all public data accumulated and the report. 7. 3 citizen panels evaluate the 2012 Presidential candidates, using the established public priorities. 8. Combine the results of the panels, to produce a ranking/grading report on the candidates. 9. Release the report to the public, media, and political candidates, and post online, two weeks prior to the election. 10. Hold public presentations on the report. Outputs/Deliverable Products: 1. Extensive data on the Venezuelan public's priorities. 2. Report on the basic, overall priorities of the Venezuelan people. 3. Grading/Ranking Report on the 2012 Venezuelan Presidential candidates, based on the established priorities of the Venezuelan public. 4. A website which contains all the reports and public data, barring confidentiality and/or anonymity agreements. Results/Outcomes: Increased involvement of the Venezuelan people in the political process. Established public mechanisms to hold political representatives accountable. Increased democratic empowerment of the people of Venezuela. Increased unity of the Venezuelan people with the Venezuelan government. Increased public accountability of political representatives. More informed Venezuelan voters. Increased Venezuelan voter turnout. Overall improvement of democracy in Venezuela. Monitoring and Evaluation: Measurement will be by comparative analysis techniques and survey/interview. The project will measure public participation in the political process, voter turnout, voter reasons, and changes in gov't policies and expenditures. The FDA and its local partners will be responsible for measuring. Innovation: The project is innovative, because it is using evaluation as a means to improve and strengthen democracy. Also, the project utilizes innovative democratic mechanisms to empower and include the people, and hold political representatives accountable. Sustainability: The achievements will be maintained by performing subsequent evaluation reports on the next parliamentary and presidential elections, reassessment of the Venezuelan public's priorities, and pushing for legislation to make the reports and mechanisms a permanent feature of Venezuelan democracy. The FDA needs your help to advance democracy! The FDA needs to raise $10,000 CAN for this project. If you believe in the "2012 Venezuela Presidential Evaluation" project, and the importance of advancing democracy in Venezuela please donate to support this project: | Home | About the FDA | Donate to the FDA | FDA Membership | Affiliated Organization | Contact the FDA |