School Bells – Current Affairs – Grade 8 – week 12
Electing a president in the United States
I am again excited to be meeting with the eighth grade students for a current affairs discussion. Prior to last week several of the students had mentioned to me their concern about the high cost of many medications. I suggested that the students and their families discuss this issue prior to our meeting today. It will be interesting to see the result of their discussions.
I hear the class coming now.
Me: Good morning class.
Class: Good morning Mr. Jim.
Me: Do any of you have special concerns or should we proceed with the assigned topic.
Class: Cookies!
Me: Good try. We had cookies last week. If you want, we can have cookies next week to celebrate the end of the presidential election.
Class: Yea!
Will: What if no one wins enough votes.
Me: As you probably know it is not just the popular votes but the electoral votes which count.
Paul: That is confusing Uncle Jim.
Me: Yes, it is. Does everyone know that electors in each state vote for a presidential candidate?
Tom: How many electors are there?
Me: Each state is different because the number of electors is based on number of Senators (2) and number of representatives.
That means that West Virginia has 5 electoral votes and California has 55. Florida has 29.
Abdul: Who are the people who are voting?
Me: In each state the political party or group elects potential electors. Except for two states, the list of those nominated by the winning popular party vote gets to choose the electors. In Maine and Nebraska, they allocate their electors based on the winner of each district and the overall winner of the state. In some states those elected must vote for the winning candidate of the state. In states such as West Virginia the electors are not bound by this rule. Occasionally in the history of the United states the person winning the popular vote did win the electoral vote.
Susie: What if there is no clear winner or there is a tie?
Me: Then the Senate of the United States selects the Vice President and the House of Representatives selects the President. This is known as contingent election.
Amena: How do we know who the electors are Mr. Jim?
Me: I am not sure. I did not have time to call any of the elected representatives or the heads of the political parties. I am sure that they would know or could find out. I did spend about an hour looking for the names in our state for 2016 and I could not find such a list.
Ann: Why was the electoral college created?
Me: Great question. There has been a lot of debate about whether to retain the system or to have the voters decide if they want to change that system. Marc Schulman in an article entitled “Why the Electoral College” published on historycentral.com states:
“The Electoral College was created for two reasons. The first purpose was to create a buffer between population and the selection of a President. The second as part of the structure of the government that gave extra power to the smaller states.
The first reason that the founders created the Electoral College is hard to understand today. The founding fathers were afraid of direct election to the Presidency. They feared a tyrant could manipulate public opinion and come to power.”
John: So everyone’s vote may not count.
Me: It may seem that way and certainly when the popular vote is different than the vote of the electoral college it must feel that way to some of the voters. The system probably will not change before all of you are voting. Now is a good time to be thinking about why you might try to change it or work to keep it the same. Just remember most of the time the popular votes determine how most of the electoral college members will vote.
Tom: Some us are on the debate team. This would be a good issue to debate.
Me: Yes it would and it would be fun to volunteer to debate in favor of the opposite of what you think is the best solution.
Tom: I like doing that but it is a lot of work.
Me: Yes, it is sometimes tough to step outside of ourselves and try to understand the thinking of one’s opponents.
Goodness, the time has gone very quickly. It will be interesting to keep discussing this issue as well and the issue about the expense of medication between now and the next time we meet which will actually be on Monday next week, the day before the election.
Great job everyone
Have a good week.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Written November 1, 2016
Electing a president in the United States
I am again excited to be meeting with the eighth grade students for a current affairs discussion. Prior to last week several of the students had mentioned to me their concern about the high cost of many medications. I suggested that the students and their families discuss this issue prior to our meeting today. It will be interesting to see the result of their discussions.
I hear the class coming now.
Me: Good morning class.
Class: Good morning Mr. Jim.
Me: Do any of you have special concerns or should we proceed with the assigned topic.
Class: Cookies!
Me: Good try. We had cookies last week. If you want, we can have cookies next week to celebrate the end of the presidential election.
Class: Yea!
Will: What if no one wins enough votes.
Me: As you probably know it is not just the popular votes but the electoral votes which count.
Paul: That is confusing Uncle Jim.
Me: Yes, it is. Does everyone know that electors in each state vote for a presidential candidate?
Tom: How many electors are there?
Me: Each state is different because the number of electors is based on number of Senators (2) and number of representatives.
That means that West Virginia has 5 electoral votes and California has 55. Florida has 29.
Abdul: Who are the people who are voting?
Me: In each state the political party or group elects potential electors. Except for two states, the list of those nominated by the winning popular party vote gets to choose the electors. In Maine and Nebraska, they allocate their electors based on the winner of each district and the overall winner of the state. In some states those elected must vote for the winning candidate of the state. In states such as West Virginia the electors are not bound by this rule. Occasionally in the history of the United states the person winning the popular vote did win the electoral vote.
Susie: What if there is no clear winner or there is a tie?
Me: Then the Senate of the United States selects the Vice President and the House of Representatives selects the President. This is known as contingent election.
Amena: How do we know who the electors are Mr. Jim?
Me: I am not sure. I did not have time to call any of the elected representatives or the heads of the political parties. I am sure that they would know or could find out. I did spend about an hour looking for the names in our state for 2016 and I could not find such a list.
Ann: Why was the electoral college created?
Me: Great question. There has been a lot of debate about whether to retain the system or to have the voters decide if they want to change that system. Marc Schulman in an article entitled “Why the Electoral College” published on historycentral.com states:
“The Electoral College was created for two reasons. The first purpose was to create a buffer between population and the selection of a President. The second as part of the structure of the government that gave extra power to the smaller states.
The first reason that the founders created the Electoral College is hard to understand today. The founding fathers were afraid of direct election to the Presidency. They feared a tyrant could manipulate public opinion and come to power.”
John: So everyone’s vote may not count.
Me: It may seem that way and certainly when the popular vote is different than the vote of the electoral college it must feel that way to some of the voters. The system probably will not change before all of you are voting. Now is a good time to be thinking about why you might try to change it or work to keep it the same. Just remember most of the time the popular votes determine how most of the electoral college members will vote.
Tom: Some us are on the debate team. This would be a good issue to debate.
Me: Yes it would and it would be fun to volunteer to debate in favor of the opposite of what you think is the best solution.
Tom: I like doing that but it is a lot of work.
Me: Yes, it is sometimes tough to step outside of ourselves and try to understand the thinking of one’s opponents.
Goodness, the time has gone very quickly. It will be interesting to keep discussing this issue as well and the issue about the expense of medication between now and the next time we meet which will actually be on Monday next week, the day before the election.
Great job everyone
Have a good week.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Written November 1, 2016
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