Friday November 8, 2013 OBJ: SWBAT understand the primary/caucus system and evaluate which is better...

Friday November 8, 2013• OBJ: SWBAT understand the

primary/caucus system and evaluate which is better and why?

• Drill: What does the word delegate mean?

• Homework: Read Wilson 250-266 Complete review questions for Tuesday. You may work with 1 other person, that persons name MUST appear on your sheet (separate sheets) ALL DUE TUESDAY

• del·e·gate• noun• noun: delegate; plural noun: delegates• ˈdeligit/• 1. • a person sent or authorized to represent others, in particular an

elected representative sent to a conference.• synonyms:representative, envoy, emissary, commissioner, agent,

deputy, commissary; Morespokesperson, spokesman, spokeswoman;

• ambassador, plenipotentiary • "union delegates"• verb• verb: delegate; 3rd person present: delegates; past tense:

delegated; past participle: delegated; gerund or present participle: delegating

• ˈdeləˌgāt/• 1. • entrust (a task or responsibility) to another person, typically one who

is less senior than oneself.• "he delegates routine tasks"

Agenda• House Cleaning: Let’s put this delegate

thing to rest… (10 minutes tops)

• Review primary/caucus steps

• Discuss articles

• Spectrum

• Wrap Up

Selecting a President 2012:Selecting a President 2012:

Primaries & Caucuses

Stage 1: Caucuses & Primaries The Battle for the Party Faithful

Stage 2: Nominating Conventions “Glorified Infomercials?”

Stage 3: General Election The Fight for the Center

Stage 4: Electoral CollegePower to the People?

Presidential SelectionPresidential Selection

Stage 1: CaucusesStage 1: Caucuses

Closed meeting of party members in each state Delegates select the party’s choice for presidential candidate Currently, six states offer party caucuses selecting

presidential nominees.

Stage 1: CaucusesStage 1: Caucuses

Rick Santorum and Ron Paul campaign for Iowa.

Questions for Discussion:

1. The Iowa Caucus is on January 3, 2012. Why is it so important?

2. Brainstorm pros and cons to the caucus format.

Stage 1: Primaries

Primary Season - January - June

Who Decides? - State party organizations for the most part decide the rules for the primaries in a particular state.

Types of Primaries: Closed Primaries Open Primaries

Presidential Primary Elections - special elections in which voters select candidates to be the party’s nominee for president in the general election.

Mitt Romney campaigning in New Hampshire

Closed Primary• Voters may vote in a party's primary only if

they are registered members of that party

Open Primary

• A registered voter may vote in any party primary regardless of his or her own party affiliation.

The Presidential Nomination Process Used By

The RepublicanRepublican and DemocraticDemocratic Parties.

The Presidential Nomination Process Used By

The RepublicanRepublican and DemocraticDemocratic Parties.With a few differences, which we will highlight, the

Republican and Democratic parties usea very similar method in nominating its presidential

candidates.In short, the fight for the Democratic or Republican Presidential

Nomination is a fight for their party’s:

To their party’s NATIONAL NOMINATING CONVENTION.

This Map Shows How Many Delegates Each State or Area Was Given To

The 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions

After the parties have “distributed” its delegates to each state, the next step in the nomination process is when each state decides what method they are going to use to decide which candidate will receive the delegates from their state.

DISTRIBUTING DELEGATES

There are two basic methods used by the states to “distribute” the delegates they have been assigned. Those

two methods are: 1) The Primary Election and, 2) The Presidential Caucus.

Technically, it is the state legislature of each state that

decide which method to use. In many states the real decision is made by the parties in that state. (ie. Some states let each party use a different method)

The graph to the right shows you how many states use each of the different methods. Notice that four states use both methods. Which

means one party uses the primary election and one party uses the caucus.

A PRIMARY ELECTION works very simply. An individual goes to his/her polling location an requests the ballot of one of the

parties holding a primary in his/her state. He/she takes theballot into a private booth, fills out the ballot and places the

completed ballot into the ballot box. This process is almost exactly what most people

think of when we think of VOTING.

The simplicity of this process makes it the prominent method used in the Presidential Primary process. In the 2008

Presidential Election 37 of the 51 state/District, or 72%, primary contests were conducted in this way.

Map of 2012 Primary & Caucus Dates

States with split colors have different systems for Democrats and Republicans. The color on the left represents the Democratic method, the color on the right represents the Republican method.

www.centerforpolitics.org

Hajo De Reijger- www.caglecartoons.com

What advantage does the democratic party have in the 2012 election process?

Pair Up With a Different Article

Discuss the main ideas with your partner.

Did you agree with the author, why or why not?

I agree, disagree, not sure

• That Caucuses are more representative than primaries

I agree, disagree, not sure

• Primaries have the potential to breed corruption in the political process

I agree, disagree, not sure

• Political Parties should nationalize their nomination process

I agree, disagree, not sure

• That Caucuses take to much time and primaries serve the same purpose

Wrap Up

• Write a response 5 sentences telling me which nomination process is better in your opinion. Use specific examples