Interview with Dianne Lefrancois (unpublished, conducted in March 13, 2009)-no link available
Summary: Dianne Lefrancois is a freelance copywriter who lives in West Linn, Oregon and is very interested in where her tax money goes and how it is spent. She answered some questions regarding her knowledge of how her tax money is spent regarding foreign aid and how she feels toward governmental U.S. foreign aid.
Topic: Should the state department of the Obama Administration double foreign aid for Africa?
Category: Citizen Stakeholder
What Is It? An audio interview done over the phone
Title: Interview with Dianne Lefrancois
Publication Information: unpublished personal interview conducted on March 13, 2009
Author (Subject): Dianne Horner, freelance copywriter and U.S. taxpayer
Location: Information from notes taken during a phone interview
Accessed: March 13, 2009
Support:
• Common knowledge of the tax system
• Personal preference
• Opinion
Dianne Lefrancois’s knowledge of the tax system and her common knowledge regarding how the foreign aid system works (what the average citizen would know) allowed her to say that she would be more comfortable giving money to a NGO that she trusts because she believes that her money would have a better chance of ending up where she wants it to (at the bottom of the socio-political food chain in African countries). Whereas, in the hands of the U.S. government, she believes that they would use it in a government-to-government exchange, which would result in a trickle-down effect, making it less likely that her money would reach the bottom, where she wants it. She would rather support a NGO than government-to-government system of foreign aid.
Audience and Agenda: I know Dianne Lefrancois personally and she took part in this interview as a favor. She is by no means an expert, but she gave her opinion, which is probably a good indication of what other average Americans are thinking as well. She doesn’t have an agenda, she is not funded, and her only audience was the interviewer (me). She made sure she understood the questions before answering them and wanted to give the most thorough answer she could, given her level of knowledge regarding the subject.
Usefulness: This interview supports the argument that, if this is indeed what the average American is thinking (which admittedly, it may not be, considering there is another whole side to the issue) then the foreign aid system needs reform in order to restore faith from the American people. This interview could be used as a reference point to start from; this is what an average American thinks about the subject, what does that mean? Seeing as how it is a stakeholder interview, it has more to do with experience and opinion than expertise; this is simply that, the opinion of an American taxpayer.
Works Cited:
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