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

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Monthly Feature - Campaign 2004
2. Monthly Theme - Congressional Elections
3. Featured Grant-funded Project
4. News and Views from The Center
5. Trivia -- Congressional Election Connection
6. Postscript Information

1. CAMPAIGN 2004

For most people, Campaign 2004 means the presidential campaign pitting the Republican nominee, almost certainly to be the incumbent George W. Bush, and the eventual Democratic nominee, likely to be John Kerry.

The CongressLink site -- http://www.congresslink.org -- puts you in touch with a vast array of sources about the presidential race AND the House and Senate races throughout the country. First, visit the Information Center -- http://www.congresslink.org/informationcenter.html -- and select Elections and Candidates. Next, choose among several options to follow the national campaign, statewide races, and campaigns for state legislative seats. You can use a national map to pick a state and get access to all the relevant races, or you can conduct a search by a candidate's last name. Using "Kerry," for example, takes you to his presidential campaign Web site. It's even possible to register to vote online.

We have also developed a list of about a dozen top Web sites containing general information and hundreds of other campaign-related links. Check it out at: http://www.congresslink.org/Campaign2004.htm. For example, Politics1.com -- http://www.politics1.com/index.htm -- was founded in 1997 as a non-partisan public service to promote fully informed decision-making by the American electorate. It is one of the most comprehensive political sites on the Internet. If you have to pick one site to visit, this is the one.

2. CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS -- It is the citizens' responsibility in a democratic society to vote in elections. The right to vote is the right to determine who governs. This issue of Communicator will suggest resources to help your students discover the importance of and strategies behind congressional elections.

Under the Constitution, all members of the House of Representatives and a third of the senators are up for election every two years. Do your students know that state legislators decide when, where, and how to hold congressional elections? Congresslink includes the text of the important issues covered in Article 1, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution at: http://congresslink.org/article1.htm.

By introducing the CongressLink lesson plan, Election Activity: Decision 2002 or 3 or 4…, students will determine their political beliefs, complete a WebQuest-based research activity on a current political issue, participate in a debate, and recognize the factors that influence how we choose candidates. Find this lesson plan at: http://congresslink.org/lessonplans/TQElection.htm.

Being an incumbent is one of the greatest advantages in winning election to Congress. Political scientist Jeff Bernstein explains why incumbents win re-election at such an astounding rate and offers suggestions about how to teach the subject to high school and college students. Find What High School Government Teachers Should Know about Congressional Elections at: http://congresslink.org/bernstein.htm.

Ask your students to gather data about their senators and representatives (e.g., committee assignments, subcommittee assignments, lengths of time in office, and major bills sponsored). Have them refer to the following Web sites posted on AboutGovernment -- http://www.aboutgovernment.org/legislativebranch.htm

• U.S. House of Representatives (links to House members' offices)
• U.S. Senate (links to Senators' offices)
• The Library of Congress: Legislation Information
• Roll Call (online version of Capitol Hill newspaper
• Center for Responsive Politics (information on the role of money in politics

Instruct students to identify the various roles of their legislators and evaluate how well they are representing their constituents based on the information they gather.

*NEW* Do your students understand the nature and relationship of congressional elections and organization? Find out by introducing the self-assessment multiple-choice and true-false quizzes posted on Congress for Kids. Find Congressional Election and Organization: Sharing the Power at: http://congressforkids.net/games/Elections_primaries/2_primaryelections.htm

3. FEATURED GRANT-FUNDED PROJECT

Suppose you are a teacher who wants to develop lesson plans that would help students understand why congressional incumbents have had such great electoral success and why they sometimes lose. Imagine that you have an idea to create student activities that help students understand the relationship between incumbency success and democratic responsiveness, but have no financial support. If this sounds like you, consider applying for a Robert H. Michel Civic Education Grant. Find information about the program, including a sample grant proposal and a list of previously awarded grants at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/grantmichelciviced.htm.

4. NEWS FROM THE DIRKSEN CENTER

** APPLICATION DEADLINE: Congress in the Classroom® 2004 **

DEADLINE: March 15, 2004

The 2004 program theme will be Election 2004. Individual sessions will be offered on such topics as: (1) Election 2004, A View from Capitol Hill, (2) Finding the Right Candidate: The Recruitment Puzzle, (3) Covering a Political Campaign: A Media Perspective, (4) Predicting Who Will Win the Presidency, (5) Show Me the Money: Can One Buy the White House?, and many others.

Take a look at The Dirksen Center Web site - http://www.dirksencenter.org/progcongressinclassroom.htm -- to see what participants say about the program. If you are interested in registering for the Congress in the Classroom® 2004 workshop, you can complete an online registration form found at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/CiCapplication.htm

**HOW DO YOU USE OUR WEBSITES?**

The Dirksen Center is part of a research project studying how teachers use Web-based resources in their classrooms.

We would appreciate your response -- it will take only a few minutes. If you provide a mailing address, we will be happy to send you a memento (while supplies last) as a token of our thanks. We are particularly interest in learning about specific ways you have used our Web resources in your classroom -- the more detail, the better!

General Survey -- http://www.congresslink.org/gensurvey.htm
Civil Rights Survey -- http://www.congresslink.org/civrightsurvey.htm

5. CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION CONNECTION

1. Who was the first incumbent U.S. president to actively campaign on his own behalf while in office?

2. True or False: In off-year, or midterm, elections, voter participation is higher than when there is a presidential contest.

Answers to the January issue of Fun, Facts, and Trivia link here: http://www.webcommunicator.org/funfactstrivia0104ans.htm

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

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