What a week for political news. Catch up on some of the most important events below.
- Impeachment Vote: Senate votes to acquit Trump
- State of the Union Coverage
- Iowa Caucus: Buttigieg and Sanders claim victory
READING: 243-281 in Edwards
Today's Essential Question: How do we determine who the candidates for president will be?
Learning Standards:
PRD-2.A: Explain how the different processes work in a U.S. presidential election.
PRD-2.A.1: The process and outcomes in U.S. presidential elections are impacted by:
- Incumbency advantage phenomenon
- Open and closed primaries w Caucuses
- Party conventions
- Congressional and State elections
- The Electoral College
The Path to the Presidency
The 2016 presidential election cycle started with five candidates for the Democratic Party nomination and more than three times that many for the Republican nomination. The question for today is, how did we end up with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, two of the most unpopular candidates of all time, end up as the two nominees? Meaning, how do the parties determine their party's nominee for the president?
The nomination process is a long and confusing series of elections run by the states. As a result of individual decisions made by the states (thanks federalism) and differences in party apparatus, there is no centralized answer to the question. Today, we will attempt to understand (as best we can) the general formula for the presidential nominating process
Task #1: Read
1.The US Presidential Nominating Process
2. Everything You Need to Know About How the Presidential Primary Works and
3. OpenStax: The Presidential Selection Process (just the Selecting the Candidate part)
After reading (or during reading), please answer the following questions in your notes:
1. What is the difference between a primary and a caucus? What does Missouri use?
2. Why are New Hampshire and Iowa so important in the nomination process?
3. What is "front-loading"? How are the political parties trying to limit it?
4. How is the presidential selection process different today than it was in the 19th century? How has that change affected the party nominees?
Task #2: Primary elections and the general election are two different types of elections. Look at this infographic on primary voters vs. the general election (NY Times Infographic) and explain the significant difference and how this can impact campaign strategy for the general election.
Task #3: Review this PowerPoint including the videos on the presidential selection process.
Review Videos:
No comments:
Post a Comment