For Discussion
1. Why did George Washington fear political parties?
2. What role do third parties play in the American political
system?
3. What is a party platform?
4. What is a platform plank?
5. Why are party platforms important?
("Parties, Platforms, and Planks" was
adapted from The Challenge of Governance
© Constitutional Rights Foundation)
A C T I V I T Y
Building a Party Platform
After reading about the origins and functions of
political parties, students create a party platform
to address
political issues that are likely to arise during a
national election.
1. In your 10 small groups you will be assigned
one issue from the list below.
Foreign Policy Issues
* terrorism
* diplomacy and military force
* promoting
democracy abroad (nation building)
Domestic Policy Issues
* jobs and the economy
* diversity and equality
*
civil liberties & national security
* health care
* education
*
environment
* energy
2. Once you have researched #1:
* Define the issue you have been assigned.
* Explain
why it is an important campaign issue.
* Develop
a position, or "plank," on how the
issue should be addressed.
3. Present your findings to
the whole class. After each presentation, vote
as a
class whether
to (1) adopt, (2) modify, or (3) reject each
position or "plank." Record the
results of the vote.
4. Re-divide the class into small groups, and using
the "planks" they have adopted, have
each group create a presentation (a poster, display,
speech,
or campaign ad) that represents their position.
Assemble all the groups' posters, displays, etc.
to create a
complete party platform.
5. Debrief the activity by having students
compare their party platform to existing
party platforms
(See part two of Election Central: "Who
are the Candidates?").
* How is your platform similar to existing
platforms? How is it different?
* Do candidates
plan to address
the issues you have chosen? How?
* In your
opinion, which platform[s] are better?
Which is the
best? Why?
Links to help you research the issues,
the candidates, the parties, etc:
Election Central Homepage
Election 2004
Scholastic's Election 2004 |
