1. What is the process for becoming a presidential candidate?
Once an individual has decided that they feel they have the necessary requirements to be a presidential candidate – how do they actually become president?
What is the process for becoming a presidential candidate?
YOUR TASK:
Cut out the cards and put them in the order in which they take place in the presidential process.
Title your diagram and stick the cards in the correct order, leaving plenty of space around each card.
Use the video clip to help you: VIDEO CLIP

2. Deciding to “Run”: Can you help Kanye?
Is my family up for it?
Should I launch exploratory committees to see if it’s worth running?
Can I raise enough money?
Which party am I going to run for?
Can I get the support I need?
Who is likely to challenge me for the nomination of the party?
Do I have any “baggage” that will hurt me?
Is now or “next time” the right time?
Who is likely to be my main rival?

3. Enquiry Question: How do elections work?

4. Learning Outcomes
To explain the procedures for primary elections (closed and open) and caucuses
To evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each

5. Key Vocabulary Dominoes
YOUR TASK:
You will need to fully understand and be able to use a wide range of political vocabulary to describe the primary process.
Working in small groups, connect the dominos so that the definitions and correctly matched up.

6. Primaries & Caucuses
Mechanism which exists for the public to have a say in who becomes the party’s candidate for elective office.
Famously take place for presidential elections and mid-terms but they can happen at every level of elected office.
Little uniformity in how and when they happen – differences between states and between the parties.
Why does this primary process take place?
There are often many contenders from within a party for the elected post and it is a way of choosing which one represents the party.
More democratic – the public is involved

7. Primaries & Caucuses 2 main types
Primaries ‐ An election to determine which candidate will be the sole person to represent a particular political party in a contest for elected office.
General Elections ‐ Candidates representing all of the different parties (but no more than one candidate from each party) compete against one another.
Different states have different types of primaries:
Closed primary: only registered members / voters of the political party in question can vote in their party’s primary. (i.e. “It’s our team, we pick our captain!”)
Open primary: registered voters belonging to any political party may pick any one of the political parties having a primary contest to vote in.

8. Primaries & Caucuses
To represent one’s political party in the presidential election one must become the “nominee” of their party.
– In previous elections political parties and “party bosses” selected nominees with little regard for what the people and less important members of the party had to say.
Today candidates must compete in primaries and caucuses in order to become their party’s nominee.
Primaries: elections in which a state’s voters go to the polls (voting booth) to express their preference for a party’s nominee for president.
Caucus: a less frequently used process where the public must show up at a set time and attend an open meeting to express their preference for their party’s nomination.
Primaries and caucuses reflect the will of the individual voter and also the preference of each state.

9. What is a primary?
What is a caucus?
A state based election to choose a party’s candidate
Different types of primaries:
Open Primary (e.g. Vermont) - anyone can vote in the primary but not allowed to vote in more than one (have to choose DP or RP primary) ADVANTAGES?
Closed Primary (e.g. Connecticut) - only registered members of the party can vote. ADVANTAGES?
Modified Primary (e.g. Ohio) - registered voters and independent/non-affiliated voters
A state based series of meetings for the selection of a party’s candidate. They fulfil the same function as primaries but the method is very different. Iowa is the most famous. The caucus can involve meetings in people’s homes or local halls and public declarations of votes and a process of convincing each other.

10. Watch the video clip: Primary Elections Explained
Primaries & Caucuses
Watch the video clip: Primary Elections Explained

11. Inside the Iowa Caucus 2008 New Hampshire Primary 2012

12. Presidential Primaries
YOUR TASK:
You will be allocated a “state”.
You will examine the 2016 Election Schedule and analyse the primary and causes process.
You will then complete an explanation of the primary/caucus process in your “state”.
Iowa - Emily
New Hampshire - Keeley
District of Columbia - Deanna
Texas - Kevin
California - Siannah
New York - Erida
Virginia - Madihah
Alaska - Reya
Ohio - Rudi
Florida - Fajr

13. Key Questions: Presidential Election Schedule
When does the primary season begin and end?
Which events are expected first for both parties?
Are there groups of states that hold their primaries on the same days? Explain.
Are all states having a primary or caucus for both parties? Explain.
When is your state holding its primaries or caucuses?
Why does the schedule sometimes differ from one presidential primary season to another?
What traditionally happens during the nominating process for a party that has a sitting president up for re-election?
Explain the nomination process in your state.
Does your state hold primaries or caucuses or both?
How are delegates to the national conventions allocated in your state?
Is there anything unique about the process in your state?
Answers:
When does the primary season begin and end? It begins on Feb. 1, 2016, and ends on June 14, 2016.
Which events are expected first for both parties? Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary, Feb. 1, Feb. 9, respectively.
Are there groups of states that hold their primaries on the same days? Explain. Yes, there are several groups of states that hold primaries on the same days. The largest of these is “Super Tuesday‟ on March 1, when 13 states will hold primaries or caucuses.
Are all states having a primary or caucus for both parties? Explain. Yes, all states will have a primary for both parties so they may send delegates to the party’s national conventions.
When is your state holding its primaries or caucuses? See the schedule for dates.
Why does the schedule sometimes differ from one presidential primary season to another? One of the main reasons is that states have moved their primaries up in an attempt to frontload a specific candidate, and “Super Tuesday” has fewer participating states than in the past.
What traditionally happens during the nominating process for a party that has a sitting president up for re-election? The incumbent is usually easily re-nominated, often by 100% of the convention delegates.
[Students should contribute to online Wiki/GC Post]

14. Learning Outcomes
To explain the procedures for primary elections (closed and open) and caucuses
To evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each

15. On your table match up the cards to create a whole table.
YOUR TASK:
You will be given a table identifying the definitions, advantages and disadvantages of different types of primaries and caucuses.
On your table match up the cards to create a whole table.
Add clear and concise notes to your own evaluation table.
*Table needs to be cut up and one given to each table/group.
STRETCH & CHALLENGE:
Go even further – look at the more detailed evaluation of the disadvantages and advantages of primaries (handout).
Create a 2 minute persuasive pitch EITHER supporting the use of primaries or opposing the use of primaries.

16. Learning Outcomes
To explain the procedures for primary elections (closed and open) and caucuses
To evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each

17. See the infograph here

18. Homework
Application Task: To what extent are caucuses a better method of candidate selection than primaries? Preparation Task: Primaries and Caucuses (Bennett p42-61) Stretch & Challenge Task Everything you need to know about how the presidential primary works