THE AMERICAN CITIZEN

Online Learning Activities

Lesson 13: Financial Participation in Elections

Lesson 14: Congressional Elections

Lesson 15: Presidential Elections

Lesson 13: Financial Participation in Elections

a)Open up this URL in your Web browser: Read over the outline of topics covered in this lesson, then click on the Start Lesson button at the bottom of the page.

b)Listen to and view the presentation onCost of Elections (see the navigation bar at the top of the page), then READ THE TEXT that has been prepared for you.

  1. Click on the hyperlink to the “Campaign Finance Reform” short presentation in the Explore section at the right, read the introductory paragraph, click on “View Presidential Primary Spending Graph” and look at what’s happened over the years to spending, just on primary election campaigns (and it’s gotten way more expensive since these years). Click on the link to “View PAC Contribution Chart” and see what happened over a 20-year period to campaign contributions from political action committees. Click on the link to “View Finance Reform Poll Results” to find out what the public thinks about campaign finance reform (are there some cynical citizens, out there?). Finally, answer the multiple choice question regarding campaign spending and special interest groups.
  2. Click on the hyperlink to the “Growth of Political Action Committees” short presentation in the Explore section at the right, read the introductory paragraph, click on “View Chart” and look at what’s happened to the number of PACs since 1977.

c)Listen to and view the presentation Campaign Finance Reform (see the navigation bar at the top of the page), then READ THE TEXT that has been prepared for you.

  1. Click on the hyperlink to the “Senator John McCain” short presentation in the Explore section at the right, read the introductory paragraph, click on “View Biography” and read the short biographical sketch on this Vietnam War hero and conservative U.S. Senator from Arizona.
  2. Click on the hyperlink to the “Buckley v. Valeo” short presentation in the Explore section at the right, read the introductory paragraph, click on “View Synopsis,” and read this overview of a very important Supreme Court case from 1976. Finally, consider the question in purple text on the page: Do you think that donating financial contributions to candidates qualifies as free speech, as the Court decided in Buckley v. Valeo?

d)Use the “roll-over” cursorfunction in the Glossary section to check your understanding of the terms used in this lesson.

Lesson 14: Congressional Elections

a)Open up this URL in your Web browser: Read over the outline of topics covered in this lesson, then click on the Start Lesson button at the bottom of the page.

b)Listen to and view the presentation Incumbency (see the navigation bar at the top of the page), then READ THE TEXT that has been prepared for you.

  1. Click on the hyperlink to the “Incumbency Re-election 1994” short presentation in the Explore section at the right, read the introductory paragraph, click on “View Graph,” and learn about the importance of incumbency in getting re-elected to Congress. In some elections, incumbency has a different impact, so answer the multiple choice question related to the graph.
  2. Click on the hyperlink to the “PAC Contributions” short presentation in the Explore section at the right, read the introductory paragraph, click on “View Chart” and explore the amount of contributions made by PACs, individuals, and others in these election campaigns. Answer the multiple choice question regarding why PACs supply more support to incumbents than to new candidates.

c)Listen to and view the presentation House and Senate Elections (see the navigation bar at the top of the page), then READ THE TEXT that has been prepared for you.

  1. Click on the hyperlink to the “Seventeenth Amendment: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913)” short presentation in the Explore section at the right, read the introductory paragraph, click on “View Text,” and read this excerpt from the amendment. Answer the multiple choice question regarding what the amendment actually requires.
  2. Click on the hyperlink to the “Apportionment” short presentation in the Explore section at the right, read the introductory paragraph, follow the directions to learn about re-apportionment after the 2000 Census.

d)Use the “roll-over” cursorfunction in the Glossary section to check your understanding of the terms used in this lesson.

Lesson 15: Presidential Elections

a)Open up this URL in your Web browser: Read over the outline of topics covered in this lesson, then click on the Start Lesson button at the bottom of the page.

b)Listen to and view the presentation onThe Electoral College (see the navigation bar at the top of the page), then READ THE TEXT that has been prepared for you.

  1. Click on the hyperlink to “The Election of 1800” short presentation in the Explore section at the right, read the introductory paragraph, click on “View Electoral College Map,” and check out the results of this important presidential election. Next, click on “View Excerpt from Jefferson’s Inaugural Address” and read this very short excerpt, in which the newly-sworn-in President Thomas Jefferson reaches out to the political opposition to try and secure their help in governing the nation. Now, click on the link to “View Political Cartoon” and analyze for meaning what the cartoonist thinks the Devil is doing to the Federal Government.
  2. Click on the hyperlink to “The Impact of the Electoral College” short presentation in the Explore section at the right, read the introductory paragraph, click on the link to “View Gallery” and read through the four presidential elections where the Electoral College system led to unintended results (the “wrong” candidate was elected). Answer the multiple choice question regarding the political cartoon and its message about the presidential election of 1800.

c)Listen to and view the presentation Primaries, Caucuses and the Conventions (see the navigation bar at the top of the page), then READ THE TEXT that has been prepared for you.

  1. Click on the hyperlink to “Iowa Caucus” short presentation in the Explore section at the right, read the introductory paragraph, click on the link to “View Chart,” look over the Democratic Party and Republican Party presidential candidates, their fortunes in the Iowa Caucuses versus their success – or not – in the November presidential election that followed. Answer the multiple choice question regarding a main advantage of winning the Iowa Caucuses.

d)Listen to and view the presentation onGeneral Elections (see the navigation bar at the top of the page), then READ THE TEXT that has been prepared for you.

  1. Click on the hyperlink to the “Election of 2000” short presentation in the Explore section at the right, read the introductory paragraph, click on the link to “View Cartoon,” and read for meaning this Halloween version of the results of the presidential election in 2000 (oh, how Al Gore must have felt about Ralph Nader!). Answer the multiple choice question about that!
  2. Click on the hyperlink to the “Voter Turnout” short presentation in the Explore section at the right, read the introductory paragraph, click on the link to “View Chart,” and check out which American social groups did, and did not, participate in the election of 2000. Answer the multiple choice question regarding the demographic characteristics most likely to vote in a presidential election.

e)Use the “roll-over” cursorfunction in the Glossary section to check your understanding of the terms used in this lesson.

Take the online test over these lessons (your teacher will “unlock” the test for you), and feel free to check the accuracy of your answers before completing the test by looking back over the information you learned in the Online Lessons above.

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