This topic is my favorite and always lots of fun.  There are many ways to participate politically, the most obvious and formal of which is voting.  In fact, as you read about the many ways you can participate politically, you may wish to do the Political Participation assignment which is explained at the bottom of the Assignment List– do something, ANYTHING, to participate politically and write a short reflection- boom, 5 points!  If you’re eligible to vote, then that would definitely count (though it’s important to note that you would be getting points for your reflection, not for the actual thing you do, so make sure you write and submit the reflection). Once you do whatever kind of participation you choose, you can complete the Civic Engagement Form answering reflective questions about what you learned for another 5 points.  If you have any questions about whether your chosen form of participation counts, please email me.

Getting back to your reading, this week, you will read about the evolution of voting in the US, and how the specific decision rules about voting actually shape the outcome of elections.  For example, the single-member districts and First Past the Post/winner take all decision rules in most American elections help guarantee that the US will only have two parties at one time.  You can also run the same election, with the same votes, and depending on whether you have majoritarian, plurality, or proportional decision rules, come out with at least three different equally democratic winners (wild, right?!?)   The rules and formal structures matter!  We will also be considering the Electoral College (refer back to our chapter on the Executive Branch if you’d like a refresher). 

In a different semester, we’d keep talking about the Electoral College and then read and discuss more about political parties, like how the US has a two party system, due to the decision rules for elections here and is likely to stay that way (though which 2 parties are the 2 parties may change/evolve in their platforms over time).  We’d talk about how some third parties in the US do exist, but they tend to be local and single-issue, which sometimes get zany, as in the Rent is Too Damn High Party and the US Marijuana Party.  We’d talk about what parties do (recruit candidates, run campaigns, make platforms, serve as a brand for voters making choices, and organize government), and how they’re an essential part of US government, despite not being mentioned in the Constitution at all.  But time is limited, and we’re all busy and tired, so we’re skipping that chapter (it’s Chapter 10 in our textbook if you’re interested, but you are not responsible for it). 

Also, I had forgotten to send around this satirical video you may find funny (it’s a satire of this School House Rocks video about Congress from 1975, which you may wish to view first).  And, because this is a first in American politics (a person with a felony conviction running for president), here’s the answer I had to look up- former president Donald Trump is eligible to vote in Florida, because he is not currently incarcerated.

Work for this week:

• Read Before our class: Chapter 7
• Watch Crash Course Videos 36-39.
• Actively participate in our Tuesday class 4:15-5:45pm
• Check out this week’s slides.
• Team E, write a blog post; teams L & J read and respond.