Introduction

Did you know there are over 50 candidates running for president in this election? Why is it that we only hear about the democratic and the republican candidates for president? Why is it that the president is always a democrat or republican? What does the Electoral College have to do with the way we elect the president? Are the two things connected? Because the Electoral College is responsible for electing the president, the way the Electoral College is organized has a lot to do with who has the chance to be elected.

You are the campaign staff of a third party presidential candidate. You are concerned about whether or not your candidate has a real shot for the presidency. You have a strong base of popular support and a real chance to win a large amount of the popular vote. Will the Electoral College help or hinder you?

Task

You will use the Internet to find out more about the Electoral College and use that knowledge to determine if your candidate has a chance to be president. Your group will decide if the Electoral College is biased by our two party system. If you believe it is you will write a petition to congress explaining why the system is unfair and why it will prevent your candidate from making a legitimate run for the presidency. If you agree that the electoral college is a necessary and useful piece of the election process, you will write a letter to the editor of the New York Times explaining your position and outlining the steps your candidate can take to assure a possible presidential win.

Process

You will complete several steps before you turn in your final product.

1. The first thing you need to do is understand how the electoral college works and how the college elects the president. When you figure this out, your team will write a one-paragraph description of the Electoral College. This paragraph must be your own description in your own words. It will be due after your first search on the computer.

2. The second step will be to fill out a pro-con worksheet with your group. This worksheet will help you determine whether the Electoral College will help or hinder your candidate.

3. When your team has chosen a position, you will turn in an outline of your argument for or against the Electoral College. You must support your argument with information from at least 3 different web sites. You must print out the information you plan to use to support your argument and submit it with your outline.

4. Finally, you will use the petition template to write your petition to congress, or you will write an editorial and type your final copy.

Resources:

The following websites contain information about the Electoral College. Some of them address issues specific to third party candidates.

http://www.nara.gov/fedreg/elctcoll/

http://www.fec.gov/pages/ecmenu2.htm

http://www.thisnation.com/processes-electoral.html

http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/ea/side/elecollg.html

http://www.policy.com/news/dbrief/dbriefarc770.asp

http://www.theamericanenterprise.org/taejf96d.htm

http://www.mcdougallittell.com/election/path/third_pty.html

http://www.grundy-center.k12.ia.us/ssi/Hand.El.College.html

Evaluation

Each step of the project will be graded. Your team will also earn points for teamwork.

Your team will be graded with the following rubric.

Project Component Value

Paragraph explanation of the

Electoral College (Should be

clear, specific, written in

students own words, and checked

for spelling and punctuation. Must

show understanding of the electoral

college.) 1 – 4 pts. ________________

Pro-con worksheet (Answers to

questions should be correct and

sites were the information was found

should be listed. Information from the

websites should be used as evidence to

support one position.) 1 – 4 pts. ________________

Outline and web site print outs (These

Should be organized and show a clear

position with logical evidence to support

each point.) 1 – 4 pts. ________________

Teamwork (Group worked together,

each member contributed to final

product, focused on task and engaged

during class time.) 1 –4 pts. _________________

Petition or editorial (Clear position,

with evidence to support position, well

organized and convincing.) 1 – 100 pts. _______________

16 points possible for process. 100 points possible for final product.

Conclusion

When you have completed this assignment you will have clearer understanding of what it takes to elect the president every four years. You will know how the electoral college is organized and how it works as a part of our two party political system. You will know how difficult it is to run for president without the support of the democratic or republican party. You will be better prepared to consider the question of whether the Electoral College is an unfair practice in our democracy. Is it a system that needs to end? Or does it remain an important and necessary part of our political system?