Difference between revisions of "US Presidential Election 2008: Basic Information"

Latest revision as of 19:18, 22 October 2008

Here is a 3-minute video explaining how the presidential election process:

Video: Electing a US President in Plain English http://commoncraft.com/store-item/election

Description of US Presidential Election Process

Presidential Elections in the United States: A Primer. Kevin J. Coleman et al.

Congressional Research Service. April 17, 2000. 53 pp. CRS Report RL30527.

An excellent primer that describes the four stages of the presidential election process: the pre-nomination primaries and caucuses for selecting delegates to the national conventions; the national nominating conventions; the general election; and voting by members of the electoral college to choose the president and vice president.

http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30527.pdf (pg 33-50 are particularly helpful at this point in the election cycle)

This website from the non-partisan organization "Voters Abroad" provides an excellent overview of the election process and includes many helpful maps and graphs:

http://www.electoral-vote.com/index.html

This entry on the MSN Encarta online encyclopedia describes the US election process and would be good background for the course:

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761569491/Election.html

Here's a list of election terminology

http://www.pbs.org/elections/glossary/index.html

The Electoral College

This website gives a good overview of the electoral college system:

http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepoliticalsystem/a/electcollege.htm

careful: satire!!!

Alternative definitions of election terms from the satirical magazine "The Onion"

http://politicsoffthegrid.wordpress.com/2008/02/11/glossary-of-election-terms-onion-style/

POLLS

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/politics/20081015_POLL.pdf