(I feel like this should be a regular series.)
I am positive that many of my students following the primary elections thought me a huge, stinking liar while following the fall of Eric Cantor. For they have been told that Virginia (enter airy, idealic music and images of birds fluttering and chirping over the dawning of a new day over a pastoral landscape) has open primaries that use public declaration. And that is it. So then, pray tell, how is it that Ed Gillespie was nominated as the GOP's candidate for the US Senate against Senator Mark Warner in a closed-door, members-only convention? Yeah, I lied. So did the textbook. I mean, if you look at Politico's analysis of the primaries, it gets even more complex.
1 Comment
If my last post was a book, here is it's sequel. Seriously, I spend way too much time on this unit. But, it's totally worth it. Totally.
Overnight, the kids read an article from The Atlantic about fixing campaign finance. While they are waiting on class to start, the continue on with this article from theDaily Beast, forecasting the projected impact of PACs on election 2016. I really like the SuperPAC scorecard, compiled from information collected by the Center for Responsive Politics. This is what we center on, analyzing the big donors and the effectiveness of their donations. It is interesting to note two things: Dems tend to donate less to candidates, and more to issues (according to the readings)... AND PACs are finding it difficult to catch eyeballs as millennials and other generations are gravitating away from traditional television viewing. I assume they will follow the eyeballs, which leads to more personalized advertising, no? I find that the next step is to explain what all the various vehicles in campaign finance are, and why we have so damn many. I hand out color copies of this graphic, taken from the Sunlight Foundation, to start our conversation. Call this lesson the logistics of elections, because that is exactly what is going on here.
Really, the best way to discuss where and how elections are administered is to have the kids dig for data. I give a brief run down on all things elections, including definitions of what the following concepts mean:
And then we are off to the computer lab. I have a SHORT and EASY webquest that is built using data from my county and state's election boards. If you are a Virginia citizen, this would be a great supplement. If you are not, I am sure you can see if this data can be gathered in your own county using the state and county election board websites. Either way, the lesson plan is up for sale on my TpT store for $1. Check it out! (This lesson plan will be up for sale shortly; it is under construction.) Remember Elbridge Gerry? and the dreaded Gerrymander? This is the day we talk Gerrymanders, Gimpy Legs, Amoeba Conventions, and Bottle Openers. What am I talking about? These are all names given to recent Congressional districts that had been 'drawn' by state legislatures. For a great upload on this topic, I highly suggest you read this 2012 Atlantic Monthly article by Robert Draper. I find redistricting fascinating. Apparently, I am not the only one. If you spend enough time looking into this, you start to wonder if this isn't where the real controversy lies. After all, it really does matter what district you live in, and the impact your vote may have. But redistricting can be so, well, boring. Or challenging. I like to start my kids off with understanding what it is precisely. Specifically, who is involved, what they are doing, and what they have to consider when they are redistricting. They being, in most states, the party in power of the state legislatures. What better tool for kids then a game? Specifically, the ReDistricting Game? (Warning, this could go on for days. I have my kids play the first option, basic... at a minimum. They can play more, time permitting.) GovGurus everywhere have cited this game as a great resource, because it is! You can get into partisan gerrymandering and incumbent protection once you have mastered those primary considerations that redistricting folks have to respect (from the 14th Amendment)... which, in a nutshell, are...
There is another great resource that gets into packing, tacking, and cracking... is the Brennan Center's A Citizen's Guide to Redistricting. It was published in 2008, but things haven't changed so much (with the exception of the overhaul of VRA section 4 & 5 after Shelby v Holder.) I have a webquest up for sale on my website that uses these resources; $1.50 for the webquest and answers! (This lesson plan will be up for sale shortly; it is under construction.) I find these three resources as a great way to help kids get a handle on what is going on in the state legislatures, usually around the years ending in 1, but sometimes more frequently than that. It will also be touched on when we talk about campaign finance, specifically with the group Project REDMAP. We are RREEP'D! Before I continue on with my General Election Plan, I thought I would share a mnemonic device I use with my students. They totally mix up electors, representatives, and delegates... So here is how I fix that problem. I make them make sign language links... Electors to (General) Elections; Representatives to Redistricting; and Primaries to Delegates. When I roll this out, the kids laugh, roll their eyes... think I am a fool... but just wait, cause on their tests they are flashing the their mnemonic devices. What do direct and indirect elections say?To start us off, I hand the 12th and 17th amendment over to the kids. They read them, and the original text of the Constitution, and then answer to 'simple' questions:
There is a lot of great room for discussion about the founding father's elitism (which shockingly many of my kids share... they told me on their essays from our unit on voters that only intelligent people should vote... Um... VRA, anyone?) as well as direct and indirect elections.We also chatted briefly about the separation of the offices of POTUS and VP on the ballots today, even though it doesn't look that way. Back to the 'lections...... and back to the board. I start off by reloading our discussion about primaries & caucuses; who participates and who doesn't... and we do a little discussion about campaign strategy. I highlight a few of the finer points of GE strategy...
This is a great time to reiterate with the kids the importance of certain states at certain stages of the POTUS election ONLY... and the list below is a generalization; not meant to capture all the swing states of modern history... Then we fly through the Electoral College...
After we are done, college is then in session for real. We listen to a 2012 broadcast of the Diane Rehm Show, where she interviews Jeffrey Rosen of George Washington University and James Thurber of American University about the EC. I have a listening guide available for purchase ($1) at my store... check it out if you are interested. Anyways, it is a great interview and gives the kids a depth of knowledge plus the personal satisfaction of listening to their first college lecture. :)
"Every election is determined by the people who show up.” ― Larry J. Sabato, Pendulum Swing Let's say that again. "Every election is determined by the people who show up.” ― Larry J. Sabato, Pendulum Swing Are you listening, people? I love Larry Sabato. Love him. Love the Crystal Ball. Love his MOOC... Was even considering signing up for it... But, I think I may have to disagree with him for half a minute. Go back to the non-voter. Especially those in those heavily partisan states like the Cowboy states or even California. If I am not a part of the ruling elite in that state, why bother? So, I love this unit because it goes into more detail about why its not just if you vote, but where you live that matters. Where you live, especially the district you live in and how its drawn, REALLY matters. So here is my unit. Enjoy. I start on day one with a nice overview of the nomination process. We prep for class by reading the Washington Post article, Why Iowa Gets To Go First. We also watch a little video about how Primaries work. I ask my kids to really consider this guiding question: What types of communities would be more likely to chose a caucus versus a primary election? Why? We start class by reading two articles that highlight the idiosyncrasies of Virginia Ballot Access rules. Ballot Rules and VA Ballot Access They play an important role in illustrating how overtly partisan the whole primary process really is. We discuss the differences in what parties need to do to get on the ballot, and evaluate whether one state is inherently more democratic than the other. Interesting to note here, your students answers may differ over what they consider to be more democratic... more access to the ballot or more representative of the parties' will. Key to this discussion is to act as a mythbuster. The caucuses and primaries are so much more partisan in their results because caucuses and primaries are meant to be an intraparty discussion about who best to nominate to represent each repective party in the electorate while appealing to the undecided and moderate voters. Kids think that these are 'regular' elections (whatever that is)... and I think it is because the elections are held by the states. I remind them that the states election laws are reflecting the needs of the major parties to nominate candidates among themselves... these elections have little federal government oversight because they are merely a nominating mechanism for the parties. I reinforce this by pointing out that minor parties skip this process. Not only because election law prevents their entrance, but it is such a costly process (both in time and capital). Draining funds and volutneers this early on in the election season would make supporting the minor party candidate's run during the general election very difficult. They often have little widespread public debate over who will secure the nomination, because their candidates can easily reach their party in the electorate at nominating conventions. So, we read these articles, discuss the issues, and ask these three questions: If you are a campaign manager, what would you advise your candidate to do if you are a 1.) member of one of the two major parties, or 2.) a third party candidate? What impact does this have on the quality of candidates on the primary ballot? We then move onto the nominating pipeline. I discuss the steps, and include a bit more discussion on the differences between caucuses and primaries. Caucuses seem to elude the kids, so I have to resources I use... one of them was put out by the Clinton campaign to promote caucusing in 2008... And another lovely video from NPR's Ken Rudin walking us through how it works. (He has some really corny jokes, but it works.) We go right through the pipeline up above, spending time talking about the role of delegates (and Superdelegates), the difference between open and closed primaries and caucuses, and ways to improve the primary and caucus procedure. We talk about how they are not held at the same time, and how important Iowa as the first nominating vehicle (caucus), New Hampshire (first primary), South Carolina, et al to the vitality of campaigns. I hit up...
Youth Leadership Initiative also has some great lessons that go with this. I took some resources from their lesson "Selecting a President Part I." Specifically, we did the following: Distribute or project the map Methods of Selecting Presidential Delegates by State. Have students analyze the map and respond to the following questions:
PS... If I had time, I would show this video to show how the party and the media deals with evaluating candidates. Funny to mention that Huntsman was not taken seriously in the straw polls, as well as failing to get on the ballot of Arizona (which shows poor campaign coordination and possible poor leadership) is given a lot of discussion by the media. The media loves everyone BUT Ron Paul. It's a funny video. Watch the very end. Expletive alert, but it's bleeped out. And that is it for day one! Phew! |
Jen's bookshelf: nerdcation
I want to start by thanking Mr. Snowden and Mr. Greenwald for their uncompromising dedication to giving the NSA violations air time and transparency.
I wanted to share some of the most important things I have learned from this book bef...
tagged:
nerdcation
tagged:
nerdcation and to-read
tagged:
nerdcation and to-read
tagged:
nerdcation and to-read
AuthorI lovgov. LOVE IT! I love teaching government, learning about it, debating, discussing, asking questions about government. And not the standard boiler plate questions, but the hard ones that are NOT in the books. Archives
August 2018
Categories
All
|