Political Platforms and Parties

What are Political Platforms? Political Platform (start at 1:07-2:43) - official stance of a political party to communicate approach to a variety of key issues Published every 4 years with the Presidential Election cycle Written by key members of the party and approved at the Convention Democratic Platform 2012 Changes - Is this democratic? Does this embody the values of the constitution?

Party Platforms Plank - Stance on a single topic for the party Platforms Explained Stop at 2:28

How are they used? Guideline to bring the party together nationally Guideline is the key word, there will be variances within each party regionally Serve as a talking point in debates and media ads Changes are often hotly debated and questioned

Look at the following images - Which do you think is most accurate? Why?

Political Parties Purpose - to join people with similar views about the government and its role in the lives of people Function - Support the expansion and success of their beliefs about government and its role

What do you need to finish today? Select individual roles within the group and let Ms. K know Select 3 main planks and write a 1 paragraph summary of each (1 per group) This must be different from the official party platform, and reflect your ideas and targeted audiences - AKA don’t copy and paste! This is due Friday on Classroom Create a campaign slogan Select which current (or previous) candidate from your party you hope to most resemble