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Chapter 7: Political Parties and Elections
What Government Does and Why It Matters

Political Parties

Politics1 is a nonpartisan Web site that provides an extensive list of political parties in the United States. For this exercise, visit the below website for one of the following parties: Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Greens, Peace and Freedom, Natural Law, or Reform.

www.politics1.com/parties.htm
1. Did the site clearly explain the philosophy of the party? Explain its philosophy.
2. Did the site clearly explain the party’s position on major issues? List the issues and give the party’s position.
3. If this is a minor party, what was the basis for its separation from the two major parties? Does the minor party have any issues that might be taken over by one of the major parties? Explain.
4. If this is a major party, does the Web site emphasize middle-of-the-road or more extremist policies? Explain.
5. Do political parties, in your opinion, want to discuss issues or personalities with the U.S. public? Explain.

Elections

The 2008 Presidential election saw a dramatic increase in the use of technology, witnessed in such formats as web-based campaign advertisements, podcasts from the presidential candidates, and groups created on Facebook in support of the various candidates and public officials up for election.

Technology also helped track voting issues, such as voter intimidation and polling problems, and has provided a visual record of the reactions of and perspectives from the historic outcome of the 2008 election.

The “Video Your Vote” project, a partnership between PBS and YouTube, is designed to look at the health of democracy in America by focusing on issues surrounding voting and attitudes towards voting. http://www.youtube.com/videoyourvote

Visit the above link and explore the different videos (designed by colored “pins” on the map) according to the following different categories:

Early Voting

Notable Voters

Perspectives

Voter Intimidation		Polling Problems

Registration Problems

Reactions
7. Early Voting

Click on the “Early Voting” category and find some videos close to where you live. What kinds of stories and perspectives were presented in these videos? If you voted in the 2008 election and voted early or with an absentee ballot, describe why you chose to vote in this manner.
8. Voting Problems

Click on the “Voter Intimidation”, “Polling Problems”, and “Registration Problems” categories and find some videos close to where you live. What kinds of problems were reported? If you voted in the 2008 Presidential election, did you experience any of these problems? Describe.
9. Voter Reactions

Click on the “Perspectives” and “Reactions” categories and find some videos close to where you live. Summarize the videos you watched. Did you have similar reactions or perspectives to those presented in the videos? Explain.

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