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
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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;
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:
Primaries & Caucuses
Presidential Selection
 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 College
Power to the People?
Stage 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: 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
Presidential Primary Elections - special elections in
which voters select candidates to be the party’s nominee
for president in the general election.
 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
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 Republican and Democratic Parties.
With a few differences, which we will highlight, the
Republican and Democratic parties use
a 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
DISTRIBUTING DELEGATES
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
receive
the delegates
from
theirto
state.
There
are twowill
basic
methods
used by the
states
“distribute” the delegates they have been assigned. Those
Delegate
Distribution
Contest
Type
two methods are: 1) The Primary
Election
and,
2)ByThe
Technically, it is the state
For The 2008 Presidential Election
(Fifty States & District of Columbia)
Presidential
Caucus.
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)
ELECTION
CAUCUS, 10,
20%
CAUCUS
BOTH
BOTH, 4, 8%
The graph to the right shows you
how many states use each of the
ELECTION, 37,
72%
different methods. Notice that four
states use both methods. Which
means one party uses the primaryelection 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 the
ballot 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.
There are three (3) major types of primaries used in the United
The simplicity
thisdifference
process makes
it the
States,
with the of
major
being how
areprominent
TRULY method
used in thevoters
Presidential
process.
Intypes
the 2008
INDEPENDENT
treated.Primary
The three
(3) major
of
Presidential
Election 37 of the 51 state/District, or 72%,
primaries
are:
primary contests were conducted in this way.
1) Closed
2) Open
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