Time Required

This lesson is designed to last a minimum of three class periods: one day to introduce the project and assign candidate research and "case for support" development; one day for caucus simulations; and a final day for delegate process "road mapping" and debriefing/wrap up.  This lesson could be expanded and tailored more specifically to your state's presidential nomination processes.

Materials

• Websites of candidates and political parties (see addresses below)
• Research materials, either via the Internet or current periodicals, that contain historical information about the presidential nominating process and recent presidential election coverage

Basic Information: 2000 Conventions

Republican National Convention: July 29 - August 4, 2000 in Philadelphia, PA
Reform Party of the USA National Convention: August 10 - 13, 2000 in Long Beach, CA
Democratic National Convention: August 14 - 17, 2000 in Los Angeles, CA

Initial Motivation

Option #1: Show a tape recording or distribute a newspaper article or a transcript of a famous speech from a previous national convention.  Ask students to imagine what it might be like to attend the convention as a delegate.  Ask students to create a list of potential delegate responsibilities.  Discuss the students' responses.  Check for accuracy.

Option #2: Invite a delegate from a previous convention (or better still, two delegates who attended conventions of separate political parties) to speak briefly to the class about their own personal experiences at the convention.  The state political parties' headquarters can be helpful with identifying former convention delegates from your community.  Allow the students time to ask questions of the speaker(s), focusing on their experiences in the delegate selection process and their general impressions of the convention.  Possible questions include:

1. How did the delegate decide to support a particular candidate? Was their support based on the candidate's personal qualities, background, or their position on key issues? 
2. Do potential delegates have to modify their politics as they move from the local level to the state and national levels? (E.g., does one have to present oneself as more or less liberal or conservative in order to appease those from other parts of the state and country?) 
3. What happens behind-the-scenes and away from the "made-for-TV hoopla" of the convention?

Procedures

1. Because this lesson focuses on the precinct/community caucuses and a delegate's "road to the convention," it would be most effective to start this lesson during the spring or early summer—the weeks prior to the presidential nominating conventions. 
   
   In class sessions before the caucus simulation, engage the students in a discussion of the presidential race.  The discussion should focus on three areas:
    
1. Who are the candidates?  Ask the class to share what they know about each candidate. Students can comment on the candidate's background and/or positions on the issues.
2. What are the major issues in this presidential race?  Encourage students to formulate opinions on the major issues in the race, such as: abortion, health care, gun control, the size of the nation's defense budget, and education.  Using the newspaper and class discussions, have the students create a chart or grid of the top five campaign issues, listing them in order of importance to them personally.  Then on the other side of the grid, have them list the candidates and research what each candidate has said in the past regarding these issues.  Students should identify the candidate(s) with which they most closely agree.
3. Recent campaign developments.  From newspaper articles, students should determine which candidate(s) is the front-runner and which is the underdog(s). The students should keep the candidates' position in the polls in mind, although it should be explained that polls are only an indicator of the candidates' positions.
    
2. Have students develop a case for support by assigning them to each select one current presidential candidate.  Each student should research the candidate of choice and his position on key issues.  Then, a "case for support," or talking points, should be developed to discuss why the student is supporting the candidate. Responses may be presented in a list format. The candidate's biography and website should be helpful with this research.  Students should answer the following questions in their cases for support:
    
1. Candidate's background: How does the candidate's experience make him better equipped to serve as president than the other candidates?
2. Position on key issues: How are the candidate's positions on the major issues the best positions for the nation at this time in history? (The completed campaign issues grid from step 1b should be helpful with this.)
    
3. Introduce the concepts behind a caucus.  Tell students that not every state uses the caucus format in its delegate selection process, but it can be used as an effective educational format for discussing the presidential candidates and issues.  For information on each political parties' delegate selection process for each state, check the party's website (addresses listed below). In order to introduce the concept of the "caucus," you may want to briefly discuss the following basic information with your students:
    
1. What is a caucus?  A caucus is a "sub-meeting" of a larger group.  For example, the Democrats and Republicans in the State Legislature often leave a full session in the legislative chamber before a vote in order to "caucus" in separate groups by political party.  In that "sub-meeting," they discuss business specific to their group and make group decisions, prior to returning to the full meeting.
2. What is a precinct caucus?  In a precinct caucus, members of a political party that live in a "precinct," or a certain geographical area (usually a small community or neighborhood) meet to have a discussion about the election.  Usually precinct caucuses are held in each individual precinct at the same date and time across the state.  They are used to establish relationships between members of a political party in order to better organize the party.
3. Who can attend a caucus meeting?  Who can be elected a delegate to the conventions?  In most states, anyone who is a registered voter in that precinct (or who lives in the precinct and will be old enough to register to vote in the November election) and signs a statement of support for that political party, may attend a caucus and be elected a delegate.
4. What happens as a result of the local presidential caucuses?  In most states, delegates and alternates can be elected to go on to represent that precinct at county conventions, legislative district caucuses, and then the state and national conventions.  In addition to selecting delegates for the presidential nominating process, delegates to these conventions vote on party "platforms," deciding the ideological basis for the party, what the party believes, and for what it will advocate. 
    
4. 4. After you have introduced the caucus concepts, divide the students into small groups (no more than ten) based on political party (each group should be of the same party).  Students who are undecided about their party affiliation should be assigned to a group for the exercise. 
    
5. Explain to the class that they are to proceed as if they were participating in a precinct (or community) caucus on the presidential election.  They should:
    
1. Select a caucus chair, or facilitator. The chair should focus on involving everyone in the discussion and keeping the discussion moving.
2. Conduct an informal conversation about each of the candidates and their positions on key issues.
3. Take a vote to determine which caucus participant is supporting which candidate for president.  Note: caucus participants can decide to be "uncommitted."
4. Elect five delegates to the county convention, based on a proportion of the votes for president within the caucus, including the "uncommitted" votes. 
    
6. Following the simulated "mock caucus," the same small groups should work together to learn more about their own state's delegate selection process for the political party they have selected.  The students should develop a simple flow chart outlining a "road map" their delegates would follow if they were to proceed through the party's process to become delegates to the national convention.  This "road map to the convention" will include a chronological list of duties for the delegate to perform between the caucus and the completion of the party's convention. This research can be completed through Internet or library research or through a phone call to their candidate's local campaign headquarters. Once the students have completed their research, each group should present their findings to the class.

Extension Activity

If your class meets during the summer, have the students watch parts of all three major party conventions (Republican, Reform, and Democratic).  Ask the students to watch parts of the conventions at home or have the students read the newspaper during the conventions and bring in articles about the conventions and/or the candidates.  For classes following the 2000 conventions, videotape key speeches and show them during class for discussion.

Assessment

Student evaluations should be based on their strengths in the following areas:

• Research of the background and position on key issues of a particular candidate
• Development of the "case for support" for the candidate
• Participation in the "mock caucus" and development of the "road map to the convention"

Additional Resources