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Policy Guide:
Exploring Partisan Politics Instructions This assignment invites you to explore the world of partisan politics. Since many policy-makers run for partisan office, it is important to understand how political parties influence individual elected leaders, and how they in turn influence party politics. Begin your exploration of partisan politics by exploring the websites of at least two political parties, and find out the location of the local offices nearest you. Think of questions to ask during your visit as you read about planks in the party platform. Make a list of all the political parties in your State. You could look for offices for the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, the Green Party, the Reform Party, the Libertarian Party, the Communist Party, the Socialist Party, and any others in your area. You can use the following links to identify local or regional offices.
Each small group is assigned a political party to investigate. In some cases, you may discover that the party to which you are assigned has a local office. If that is true, please go visit them in person! If however, your party does not have a local office, please contact them and ask for printed information, including a copy of their platform, a list of the candidates they have backed in recent elections, their success rate at getting candidates into office, and materials about legislation they have supported that has become law at the state or federal levels. Your instructor will select a short list of current social issues, and each team will prepare a campaign speech, demonstrating their knowledge of the position the party they explored would take on this issue. A spokesperson for each team will present the campaign speech to the class, and following the speech, the class will discuss the themes important to the party that are evidenced by the presentation. When all the presentations have been made, discuss the similarities and differences between the parties and how these play out in the legislative and electoral processes.
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