Politics class: Can you mastermind a US presidential campaign?

This article picked by a teacher with suggested questions is part of the Financial Times free schools access programme. Details/registration here.

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Specification:

• Edexcel Component 3, Section 5.1.1: Presidential elections and their significance: the role of the electoral college

• AQA Component 3.2, Section 3.2.1.5: The electoral process and direct democracy: debates concerning the workings, outcomes and impact of the electoral college system on campaigns

Background: what you need to know

This week we have something a little different: a simulation game designed to help you understand the US electoral process. The accompanying article focuses on the electoral college, created by the Founding Fathers to filter the effects of mass democracy. The system works in a disproportionate way since, except in Maine and Nebraska, the candidate who wins the most votes in a state takes all the votes allocated to it in the electoral college.

The system ensures that candidates focus their efforts and advertising revenue on a handful of ‘swing states’ which could determine the outcome of the election. It has produced anomalous results in two years, 2000 and 2016, when the winner of the popular vote did not carry the electoral college. So is the electoral college an appropriate way of determining the outcome of modern presidential elections?

Click the link below to read the article and then answer the questions:

Can you mastermind a US presidential campaign?

Question in the style of AQA Politics Paper 2

• Explain and analyse three ways in which the electoral college influences US politics. [9 marks]

Question in the style of Edexcel Politics Paper 3A

• Evaluate the view that the system for electing the US president is outdated and in need of reform.

  You must consider this view and the alternative to this view in a balanced way. [30 marks]

  TIP: The Edexcel essay requires you to look not just at the electoral college but at other features of the US presidential election process, such as the way in which candidates are nominated, the part played by national conventions and the role of campaign finance.

Graham Goodlad, Portsmouth High School