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The US Presidential Election

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The WebQuest on the US Electoral College

Introduction

n 2000 US presidential election Republican George W. Bush defeated Democrat Albert A. Gore after a month of recounting in the state of Florida and receiving 25 disputable electoral votes that were enough for 5 vote lead in the Electoral College. Thus, George W. Bush became the 43rd President of the United States although he lost the popular votes (by 543,895 margin) to his rival.

2004 election was tight as well and again George W. Bush took the office for the second term beating John F. Kerry. But this time G.W. Bush won both the popular and electoral votes.

2008 election brought victory to Democrat Barack Obama, the fisrt African-American president in the U.S. history. He was elected by a significant electoral lead.

Unlike Russia (direct vote) the USA has a distinct way of electing the president - through the Electoral College. Although people go to the polls and vote for a candidate in reality they "instruct the electors from the state to cast their votes for the same candidate". Puzzling?

In this simple WebQuest you and your teammates will study the Electoral College institution that seems to have raised many questions after 2000 election results.

Question

• Does the Electoral College need any reform?

To answer this question you and your teammates will read some background articles on the election in general, the Electoral College, Florida recounting, ideas concerning the Electoral College reform and discuss them with the rest of the team.

Process and Resources

The articles you are going to read are authentic and they might challenge you in terms of unknown words. Please, feel free to use one of the online dictionaries or one at hand.

Here are the step-by-step instructions to use when studying the question.

1. BACKGROUND. How the President gets elected.
• The whole group should read the texts
  • "Who Can Vote and Who Can Be Elected."
  • "Step-by-Step on the Campaign Trail."
  to have an idea on the election as a whole. The texts give brief information on the age and citizenship requirements and seven step presidential election process.


2. LOOKING DEEPER. The Electoral College.
• To study the Electoral College the whole group should read a couple of articles below (no need to read all of them):
  • "The Electoral College."
  • "The Electoral College System."
  • "What is the Electoral College?"


3. LOOKING AT THE PARTICULAR ISSUE. Election 2000. The Florida Recount.
• Read the texts on Florida recount
  • "The Legal Battle for the White House."
  • "Election 2000. The Recount."
  • "American History Series: Supreme Court Ruling Decides the 2000 Presidential Election."
  to find out why Florida votes mattered and know a full chronology of the recount.
  


4. LOOKING AT THE ISSUE FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES.
• In Election 2000 one of Gore electors left her ballot blank and the democratic nominee lost the election 271-266 rather than 271-267. You might conclude a single electoral vote is really important especially when the election is tight. Not only this fact is given by critics of this institution but those who support it still see solid advantages.
  As the US presidential election has nationwide significance (if not the world) we should approach the Electoral College carefully and treat it from different perspectives.
  Use the goal statements below to choose one of the roles and then click and open the envelope with the role you have chosen to complete the activity.



TEAM ONE: ADVOCATES Speak in favor of the Electoral College	TEAM TWO: CRITICS Speak against the Electoral College



5. GROUP PROCESS.
• Now after studying the issue and becoming an expert from one perspective, you are ready to combine what you have learned into a single answer whether the Electoral College needs any reform. This is not going to be easy because each of you feel his/her viewpoint is the best. To reach a single answer you should probably find a compromise.

Conclusion

ou have studied different approaches to the Electoral College and engaged in the proposed activity and now you are expected to realize that any change of any institution on the national level has to be debated first by many people from different walks of life and only then certain steps must take place.

You should also keep in mind your ideas can matter only if they are responsible, profound, and constructive. Besides you are ready to realize that you need to find a compromise to resolve a difficult issue.

And to finish with, Collins Cobuild Dictionary gives "A democratic country, government, or political system is governed by representatives who are elected by the people." Otherwise the people do not have access to the politics and their opinion and choice are neglected.

News Feeds

Here are the news feeds provided by Yahoo! News. You can use this source for a five minute news warm-up at the beginning of our class. Click the headline to open the whole article in a new window.