DUE: Thursday, Feb 14
Yes, there are other political parties in the United States besides Democratic and Republican. These third parties, however, rarely get much publicity on the national political scene. For example, while Ross Perot was permitted to debate George Bush and Bill Clinton in 1992, Ralph Nader, a 30+ year political activist and recent presidential nominee for the Green Party, was prohibited from participating in the 2000 and 2004 presidential debates. In 2016, although the major party nominees, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, were unpopular,Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson didn't garner enough support to appear on the debate stage. For better or worse, the United States seems to be stuck with a two-party system. For this project, you will choose a third party from the list below and do the following:
Here are the third parties from which you may choose (I have also included their official websites):
Why do we have only two dominant parties in our democratic political system? The following article does a nice job of summarizing why the two-party system persists and why third parties have such difficulty elbowing their way in. Third Parties in the U.S. Political Process Also, I found a pretty good PowerPoint on the Youth Leadership Initiative website.
And finally, Ralph Nader's classic interview about third parties from Meet the Press. Today we're comparing the two major parties in the United States. Visit their official websites and complete the following worksheet. Then, tonight for homework, summarize 2 recent news articles on Clinton and Trump (1 article each).
- Comparing Political Parties worksheet Here are today's notes on the differences between liberals and conservatives on major economic, social, moral, and foreign policy issues.
Liberals vs. Conservatives |