This is our catalog of courses. We will occasionally adjust the course listing to reflect the addition of new courses and the retirement of others.
Presented live every four years (in the presidential election year), this 6-week course helps your student fully understand and become involved with the fundamentals of our American elections. A practical, timely course helping your student know the importance of how to be a force for good in our republic.
Total classes: 6
Prerequisite: Basic knowledge of the American government
Suggested grade level: 9th to 12th
Suggested credit: 1/2 semester Government. For full credit, add another government course (live or recorded), or see our Government Reading List.
Special Notes: Due to the popularity of this course, it is offered during four different time slots in the fall. Choose the day and time that works best for you. We recommend registering early as we expect this course to fill and close quickly.
The Friday section will meet on November 1, All Saints Day. Students not able to attend that day will catch up by viewing the class recording. Added Note: This one has All three sessions that Paul Hyatt is teaching. There is one more time for Thursday at 4 PM ET with Ed Rivet. Please look that one up if that one works for you.
Description
This 6-week course will explore the “ins and outs” of the American electoral process, with a special emphasis on the upcoming 2024 Presidential Election. We’ll begin class five weeks prior to the November 5th election, with our last class a wrap-up, just days after we’ve elected a new president. (Well… hopefully we won’t have a repeat of the year 2000 “hanging chad” debacle.) Along with weekly lectures, there will be some interactive features during class time. Perhaps we’ll have a little “prognostication” contest on the outcome of certain elections.
Outline
Week 1: Elections: Overview of Constitution & Laws
Week 2: Comparisons: Local v. State v. National Elections; Partisan v. Nonpartisan; Jungle Primaries; U.S. System v. other countries
Week 3: The Electoral College – Should It Stay or Should It Go?
Week 4: Anatomy of Campaigns: Operations, PACs & Super PACs, Polls & Pundits
Week 5: How Issues, Incidents & Outside Events Affect Campaigns
Week 6: Post-election Analysis – What drove the results? How accurately did we foresee the results? What are the implications of the results?
Materials and Homework
Course Materials: Provided free by the instructor or online.
Homework: Students will have a variety of “home” work assignments – reading, research, some essays, etc. Students are going to be STRONGLY encouraged to volunteer at least a couple hours of their time to any candidate or issue campaign of their choice during the 6-week period. Essays will be graded by the instructor.
Important Dates
Class Dates and Starting Times:
Mondays, October 7 to November 11, 2024.
1:00 PM Eastern (noon Central; 11:00 Mountain; 10:00 Pacific)
OR
Wednesdays, October 2 to November 6, 2024.
1:00 PM Eastern (noon Central; 11:00 Mountain; 10:00 Pacific)
OR
Fridays, October 4 to November 8, 2024.
1:00 PM Eastern (noon Central; 11:00 Mountain; 10:00 Pacific)
Duration Per Class: 55 minutes
