Welcome to The Dirksen Congressional Center's Communicator - a web-based e-newsletter providing educators with news and ideas to enhance civic education and improve the understanding of Congress -- http://www.webcommunicator.org

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NEWS FROM THE DIRKSEN CENTER
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Congressional Research Awards Announcement>

DEADLINE: Proposals must be postmarked no later than February 1, 2003

The Dirksen Congressional Center invites applications for grants totaling $35,000 in 2003 to fund research on congressional leadership and the U.S. Congress. The competition is open to individuals with a serious interest in studying Congress. Political scientists, historians, biographers, scholars of public administration or American studies, journalists, and research teams of two or more individuals are among those eligible. The Center encourages graduate students to apply and awards a significant portion of the funds for dissertation research. Undergraduate or pre-Ph.D. study and organizations are not eligible.

There is no standard application form. Applicants are responsible for showing the relationship between their work and the awards program guidelines. All application materials must be postmarked on or before February 1, 2003. Awards will be announced in March 2003. Complete information about eligibility and application procedures may be found at The Center's Web site: http://www.dirksencenter.org/grantcongresearchaward.htm Frank Mackaman is the program officer -- fmackaman@dirksencenter.org

CongressLink Congratulations!

Beginning in September 2002, CongressLink -- http://www.congresslink.org -- has experienced 3 consecutive record-breaking months of traffic and set the all-time monthly traffic record in November 2002. CongressLink reported a total of 1,236,484 hits for that month.

New York Times on the Web - Learning Network

The "New York Times on the Web - Learning Network" featured Congress for Kids -- http://www.congressforkids.net - in November on their teacher and student connection pages as a resource for the theme of the month's crossword puzzle about the U.S. Congress. Find this feature at: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/xwords/20021101.html

VOTING AND ELECTIONS: Voting Choices and Electing Candidates to Office

The culmination of the political process comes on Election Day when people go into the voting booths and mark their ballot for the candidate of their choice. When it comes to actual elections, voters do have some choice in how they cast their ballots. Resources posted on The Dirksen Center's Web suite - http://www.dirksencongressionalcenter.org - will help your students understand these choices and the election process.

Voting Choices

Some voters will cross party line to support certain candidates if they have strong personalities. Other voters will vote based on the issues. Teachers, have your students find out what they really think about a political issue based on Web research. Introduce our CongressLink WebQuest, What Do I Really Think? A Political Issue Research Activity -- http://www.congresslink.org/WebQuests/Election.htm

Several issues have surfaced as litmus tests for candidates running for office in recent years. Your students can research some of these issues. Find Project Vote Smart at: http://www.aboutgovernment.org/electionsvoting.htm

There are several election processes in addition to the "single member plurality" method used most often in the United States. Take a look at this list of fact sheets that provide information about the various voting systems. Find Voting Systems Factsheets at: http://www.aboutgovernment.org/electionsvoting.htm

During the Progressive Era, reforms started the trend toward primary elections where voters directly select their party nominees, a process that was solidified for presidential elections starting in 1972. Find more information and resources about getting nominated and campaigning for office in our archived March 2002 Communicator issue: http://www.webcommunicator.org/site%20resources/archives/March2002.htm

Electing Candidates to Office

The presidential campaign is the most important political race in our country. Election Day happens every four years, but the race starts long before that first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. For a little fun and learning, watch an original animated movie that explains presidential elections in a voice and visual style that is accessible, educational, and entertaining for both children and adults. At the end, you can choose to watch the movie again, take an online quiz, or learn about the Electoral College. Find Elections at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/executivebranch/2_execbranch.htm

In 1980 when enough Republicans were elected to give the party control of the Senate for the first time in a quarter century, President Ronald Reagan was considered to have long "coattails" (an ability to help get other officials elected). Learn more about this "prime-time" president and his presidential coattail effect. Find The American President - Ronald Reagan at: http://www.aboutgovernment.org/presidents.htm

All members of the House of Representatives and a third of U.S. Senators are up for election every two years under the Constitution. Our CongressLink featured lesson plan this month will give students a solid understanding of how these congressional elections are conducted and of what determines who wins and loses these contests. Find Winning the Seat: A Congressional Election Simulation at: http://www.congresslink.org/simulation/index.htm

Featured Project

Our featured project this month is a $2,800 Congressional Research Award granted to Dennis Simon of Southern Methodist University entitled Southerners in the U.S. House of Representatives: A History of Electoral, Partisan, and Ideological Change, 1936-2000. The objectives of this project are to: (1) examine turnover in elections for the U.S. House in the South, (2) analyze the ideological consequences of that turnover, and (3) evaluate the impact of electoral and ideological change on the leadership of the House. Learn more about this project and others at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/grantcongresearchaward.htm#Grntrecipient00

The Long Road to Victory - The Race is On!

When voters support all the candidates from the same party, this is often called...

A) voting a straight ticket
B) voting a litmus test
C) voting on personal appeal
D) voting without standards

True or False: The U.S. Constitution states that the presidential candidate who wins the most votes in a state receives all of that state's electoral votes.

Critical Thinking

The Electoral College usually tracks the popular vote, with the same presidential candidate winning in each. On occasion, such as in 2000, the Electoral College chooses a different candidate than the one who received the most votes. This arrangement is easy to criticize, but try to brainstorm reasons why it may be less dangerous than a straight-forward election. Can you think of any other reasons why using the Electoral College is a good idea?

Answers to November's issue of Fun, Facts, and Trivia link here: http://www.webcommunicator.org/funfactstrivia1102ans.htm

For many years, Everett and Louella Dirksen composed and drew their own Christmas cards. The Dirksen Center would like to wish you Happy Holidays "In All Languages" -- http://www.dirksencenter.org/xmas_cards/inalllanguages.jpg

Encourage your colleagues to subscribe to the Communicator. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, contact Cindy Koeppel at ckoeppel@dirksencenter.org Your feedback makes a difference!