Transcript Political Parties Notes

Electing Leaders
A Two-Party System
• Political party –
group of citizens
w/similar views on
public issues who
work together to put
ideas into effect in
gov
• Political spectrum –
range of differences
in political views
between parties
• Two-party system – US has this – 2 main
political parties (hundreds of parties,
but most don’t have significant impact)
• Democratic vs. Republican
– D: greater gov. role in social & economic
issues (poverty, business), less gov. role in
personal choice issues (abortion, same-sex)
– R: greater gov. role in personal choice
issues, less gov. role in social issues
• Both try to attract as many voters as
possible – try to stay closer to center of
public opinion vs. extreme
Democrats today say the donkey is smart and brave,
while Republicans say the elephant is strong and
dignified.
Why are Republicans Elephants?
Why are Democrats Donkeys?
• The now-famous Democratic
donkey was first associated
with Democrat Andrew
Jackson's 1828 presidential
campaign. His opponents called
him a jackass (a donkey), and
Jackson decided to use the
image of the strong-willed
animal on his campaign posters.
Later, cartoonist Thomas Nast
used the Democratic donkey in
newspaper cartoons and made
the symbol famous.
Nast invented another famous
symbol—the Republican
elephant. In a cartoon that
appeared in Harper's Weekly
in 1874, Nast drew a donkey
clothed in lion's skin, scaring
away all the animals at the
zoo. One of those animals, the
elephant, was labeled “The
Republican Vote.” That's all it
took for the elephant to
become associated with the
Republican Party.
Multiparty Systems
• Many European countries
• Various strong political parties
• Coalition governments – when 2 or more of these
political parties join forces and work together
Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Finland, France, Germany, India, Israel,
Indonesia, Japan, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Taiwan,
Spain , Switzerland
One-Party Systems
• Aka dictatorship/totalitarian gov
• Forbids other political parties
China, Cuba, North Korea: communist party
Third Parties
• Influence national politics
• Examples: Theodore Roosevelt 1912, Ross Perot
1992 & 96, Ralph Nader 1996 2000 2004 2008
The Right to Vote
• US Citizens eligible to
vote at 18 – must
register
– May register as
member of a political
party or independent –
can always change later
Elections
• Primary election: allows voters to
choose party candidates who will run
in general election (Clinton or Obama
or Edwards? McCain or Romney or
Huckabee?)
– Open: voters can vote for candidate of
any party
– Closed: (more common) voters can only
vote for candidates of their registered
party
• General Election: Voters choose
leaders from candidates offered by all
political parties
General Elections
• Congress set the date for the general election of the president and Congress as
the first Tuesday following the first Monday of November
– Presidential elections every 4 yrs
– Congressional elections every 2 yrs
– President & Congress elected in even #ed yrs
– State election dates can vary
• Independent candidates can have name on general election ballot
with enough supporters signing a petition
• US adopted use of secret ballot in 1888
World's Smallest Political Quiz
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Libertarian
Right (Conservative)
Left (Liberal)
Centrist (Moderate)
Statist (Authoritarian/Big Government)
Presidential Election Example
Adrian Morales PwPt
Presidential Candidates
give speeches (Miles
Boyer and Jazmine
Burel)
Presidential Candidate Lance Baze
with the protection of secret service.
Listening to Speeches
Made
own
campaign
t-shirts
Swaying the Voters
Candidates Round Table Discussion
Based on your Political Spectrum results…
• Gather with the group that best matches
your own results – based on your political
views you are a political party
• Each political party must
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Create a party platform (list of core beliefs)
Create a name for your party
Create a symbol for your party
Nominate a presidential candidate
Campaign slogan for presidential candidate
• Decide who will create a political campaign
poster for your presidential candidate
• Decide who will create a political campaign
video or PowerPoint for your presidential
candidate
In your political party
platform, be sure to
include your party’s
position on:
Presidential Election Timeline
 Campaign Videos/PowerPoints
 Round Table Discussion – 5 presidential candidates
 Round Table Discussion – 5 VP candidates
 Primary Election – narrow down to 2 candidates (each person
may vote for 2). Top 2 with most votes will run in the general
election.
 2 Candidate Debate
 2 Candidate Speeches (1-2 minutes each)
 Each student assigned to represent a state for electoral
college
 Electoral Votes and “Campaigning” Turned in and Recorded
 Electoral College Vote
 Winner Announced!
Electoral College Game and Election Day Rules
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Each candidate is “given” 30 million dollars in campaign money to spend on the election.
They must spend in $100,000 increments. Each $100,000 is worth 50,000 votes. Each $1
million = 500,000 votes.
Each elector = 500,000 votes in the state they represent
All states must turn in votes prior to election (absent students must have filed an absentee
ballot)
All candidate money must be spent and recorded before the Election
For every $1 million dollars that a candidate spends on a state, that candidate gets an
additional 500,000 votes in that state. Therefore, it is possible that even if the elector for a
state votes for Candidate A, Candidate B can still win that state if they spend more than $1
million dollars “campaigning” in that state.
For each state that was not assigned to a student, each candidate rolls 1 die. The number
that the candidate rolls is multiplied by 100,000 to give that candidate the votes for the
state (If a 6 is rolled, they get 600,000 votes; if a 2 is rolled, they get 200,000 votes, etc.)
This is in addition to any votes purchased with campaign money.
The electoral counting moves east to west, north to south (always starts in Maine and
moves over state by state). Remember, the first candidate to reach 270 votes wins, so it is
possible that the election is decided/over before the votes in electoral-rich-California are
counted!
Candidates will campaign to the different states to persuade electors to vote for them.
If candidates choose to bring candy, etc. to encourage people to vote for them, they may
not spend more than $10 total.
Campaign wisely.
Propaganda Techniques
• Research on 6 different propaganda techniques
• Create 6 different propaganda bumper stickers for different
candidates – 1 for each of the different techniques discussed
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Testimonial
Bandwagon
Name Calling
Glittering Generalities
Plain Folks Appeal
Card Stacking
In each bumper sticker, be sure to:
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Label the technique
Use the technique in a clever and catchy manner that attracts voters
Refer to a specific candidate
Make your bumper sticker bold and clearly visible
• Note: For Propaganda Technique #3 – “name calling,” preview your
idea with Mrs. Aranda first (for the purposes of this class, the
“name calling” should be playful, not offensive)
Alexis de Tocqueville
• 18th Century French Philosopher
– Rule by the people
– Responsibility of government
• Equality, liberty, and justice
– Wrote book Democracy in America
• Three principles
– Equality
– Sovereignty of the people
– Presence of public opinion