TITLE:  Presidential Elections: A Simulation

AUTHOR:  Randolph Burns, Fredonia High School,
         Fredonia, KS

GRADE LEVEL:  Appropriate for grade 12

OVERVIEW:  Every four years, the world watches closely as
the people of the United States elect the leader of their
country.  The person chosen will not only hold the position
of leader of the most powerful nation in the world, but also
the international leader of the free world.  The people will
not be forced to indicate "yes" or "no" on a single
candidate presented to them by the ruling political party,
but will choose from a list of two major and several minor
candidates.  In addition, the election will be conducted in
an atmosphere free of coercion and intimidation.  The
people's choice will be final, without violent reactions by
the losing candidate's supporters.

PURPOSE:  Through this activity, students will come to
better recognize and understand the intricacies of U.S.
presidential elections--the simple and noble aspects, as
well as those characteristics which have come under great
criticism.

This knowledge will enable students to become more
thoughtful voters, having the ability to separate the
"style" candidate from the "substance" candidate.  In
addition, should the necessity to revise the election
process become more imperative, these students will be in a
better position to take an active role in such a debate.

OBJECTIVES:  Students will be able to:
1.   Identify the steps in the nomination process.
2.   Identify the costs of conducting a campaign, as well as
     the sources of campaign funds during the nomination and
     the general election periods.
3.   Describe how the electoral college system works, plus
     its benefits and limitations.

ACTIVITIES:
1.   Divide the class(es) into states.  The number of states
     and the "population" of each will be dictated by class
     size.  There should be states with large and small
     populations.  This will facilitate an explanation of
     the workings of the electoral college system.  Each
     state should have two electoral votes plus a number
     based on their population.
2.   After forming two political parties, have some students
     volunteer to be candidates.  Give these candidates
     different amounts of campaign money.  They should
     solicit the support of other citizens who have been
     given different amounts of money.  Students campaign by
     buying poster paper, paints, television or radio (a
     cassette player) time from the instructor by using
     their campaign funds.
3.   On election day, have students from your class(es), and
     other classes participating, vote by state.  From the
     popular vote of each state, determine the winner of
     each state's electoral vote.  The candidate that
     receives the most votes in the state gets all of the
     state's electoral vote.  The candidate who wins a
     majority of the electoral votes wins the election.
     After the election, hold a debriefing session.
RESOURCES/MATERIALS NEEDED:   
1.   Textbooks on U.S. government.
2.   Campaign materials:
       poster paper
       color markers
       television and/or audio tape equipment (optional)

TYING IT ALL TOGETHER:  Probably no other classroom activity
generates such student enthusiasm as participating in an
election.  Spin-offs are virtually unlimited.  these can
include investigations into the origin of elections,
constitutional guarantees, historical conflicts, struggles
for voting rights, the organization of political parties,
comparison with elections in other countries, current
issues, campaign techniques, and so on.  Time, student
abilities, and teacher inventiveness will be the only real
life limits as to how far the simulation can be utilized.