Welcome to The Dirksen Congressional
Center's Communicator - a web-based e-newsletter providing
educators with news and ideas to improve the understanding of
Congress -- http://www.webcommunicator.org
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. Monthly Feature - Web-Based Information
About Campaigns
2. Monthly Theme - Political Parties: The Structure
3. Featured Grant-funded Project
4. News and Views from The Center
5. Trivia -- Catechizing About Conventions
6. Postscript Information
1. WEB-BASED INFORMATION ABOUT CAMPAIGNS
Although the 2004 presidential and congressional elections are
still months away, there is no shortage of Web-based information
about the campaigns. George Bush -- http://www.georgewbush.com --
and John Kerry -- http://www.johnkerry.com --
have their respective sites, of course. But there are literally
hundreds of campaign and election-related sites. To make it easier
for you to find the most useful information, The Dirksen Center
has created three sections of its AboutGovernment Web
site -- http://www.aboutgovernment.org --
devoted to politics.
The "Politics" section -- http://www.aboutgovernment.org/politics.htm --
lists more than a dozen sites. Among the best, Politics1 -- http://www.politics1.com/index.htm --
perhaps the most comprehensive one-stop site for political topics.
Founded in 1997, Politics1 is published as a non-partisan
public service to promote fully informed decision-making by the
American electorate. Traffic statistics show that Politics1
continues to be one of the most popular political sites on the
net. According to the WebTrends traffic report (for the
period ending April 3, 2004), Politics1 is recording over
450,000 unique user sessions, 921,000 page views, and 11.3 million
hits per month.
The "Political Parties" section will link you to, naturally,
the major political parties - and more obscure ones, too. Nearly
twenty sites in the "Elections and Voting" section deal with
electoral processes such as campaign finance, voter registration,
and the Electoral College.
Although we cannot hope to provide links to all Web sites related
to politics, our AboutGovernment site is a good place
to start.
2. POLITICAL PARTIES: THE STRUCTURE --
Most of your students know that political parties are organized
groups that compete in elections in order to win public office,
operate the government, and determine public policy. Do they
know that the organizational structure of political parties
differs according to the social and political context of each
county but all share the same interest in fielding candidates
and winning elections? The May issue of Communicator will
introduce resources that will help your students better understand
the structure of political parties and how they publicize issues,
stimulate interest in the political process, recruit candidates,
and carry out election campaigns.
It is important to start with strong local parties in order
to build a strong national political party. Get your students
involved in a local campaign and help them understand what it
takes to strengthen a local political party. Find Strengthening
Your Local Political Party at: http://www.aboutgovernment.org/politicalparties.htm.
Party members select their candidates at a state caucus. Although
the party's slate is listed on the ballot, voters can vote for
any candidate they want. Here's a fun taste test to help your
middle-school students understand how ballot sheets are filled
out and to see the importance of gathering information before
voting:
Have your students register to vote using a modified registration
form. After they are registered to vote, let them know that
a candidate needs to be investigated and researched before
one can vote. Get three different brands of rootbeer, each
decorated attractively with labels removed. Give students each
selection to taste. After tasting them, the students vote on
a ballot for which they thought was best. After each student
votes, create a bar graph and compare the data. Finally, explain
how this activity can be related to the candidates on the ballot
and how they compare in their race.
Political parties run candidates for Congress and the presidency
at the national level. After completing this lesson, students
will understand the process by which candidates are nominated
by the Democratic and Republican parties. They will identify
and understand differences between primaries and caucuses and
key terms and issues related to the primary season. Find The
Presidential Nominating System at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/Elections_primaries/2_primaryelections.htm.
What are the important dates for the 2004 election process?
Find a summary of the process in the Five-Minute Election
Primer found at: http://www.congresslink.org/Campaign2004.htm.
3. FEATURED GRANT-FUNDED PROJECT
This month our featured grant-funded project is a Congressional
Research Award of $3,500 awarded to R. Sam Garrett from
American University. Mr. Garrett's project, Campaigns, Crises,
and Communication: Decision-Making in Congressional Campaigns,
will enhance the understanding of leadership in congressional
campaigns, especially between political consultants and traditional
campaign actors. Learn more about this project and others at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/grantcongresearchaward.htm#Grntrecipient00.
4. NEWS AND VIEWS FROM THE DIRKSEN CENTER
Over a period of several months, we have been working intensely
to create a new look and feel for The Center's Web suite including
reworking the suite's approach to navigation and interactive
features. This process required clear and frequent communications
from our users. Thank you to those folks who took the time to
complete our online surveys. Creating and maintaining our Web
suite is a large and challenging job, but we value your feedback.
Your comments told us it was worth reviewing, refining, and redesigning
our Web sites.
These are a few questions we had to answer:
- Has the purpose of our suite changed since its initial creation
or last facelift?
- Have our audiences changed or expanded?
- Is the suite working for our visitors and helping The Center
meet its mission?
- Is our suite attractive, easy to navigate, and clear?
- Does the feedback from our online surveys reinforce this
redesign or challenge it?
The answers to these questions helped us realize where we wanted
to take the suite and how to plan in order to get there. During
the first week in July, The Center's Web suite will take on a
whole new look. Stay tuned next month and we will give you a
snapshot of the process we followed in this redesign.
5. CATECHIZING ABOUT CONVENTIONS
1. What is common at most national political conventions?
A) Thousands of delegates
B) Lots of balloons
C) Rousing speeches
D) All of the above
2. Convinced that it was best for the country that he not seek
another term, he instructed his secretary to notify unpledged
delegates at the convention not to vote for him. Which president
made the statement -- "I do not choose to run!"?
A) Calvin Coolidge
B) Herbert Hoover
C) William McKinley
D) William Taft
3. Name the presidential candidate who was NOT nominated by
his political party in Chicago?
A) Abraham Lincoln
B) Franklin D. Roosevelt
C) John F. Kennedy
D) Bill Clinton
Answers to the April issue of Fun, Facts, and Trivia link
here: http://www.webcommunicator.org/funfactstrivia0404ans.htm.
Have a great summer! Encourage your colleagues to subscribe
to the Communicator. If you have questions, comments,
or suggestions, contact Cindy
Koeppel. Your feedback makes a difference!
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