Teaching Ideas for Chapter 8:
Political Parties
We frequently hear criticism that there is not much difference between the Democrats and Republicans. Have your class summarize the contents of the front section of the newspaper for one week. Students should pay particular attention to whether there are differences between Republicans and Democrats on issues that make the front page. At the end of the week, compare the number of issues on which there appears to be party differences compared to those on which there is little difference. Have students then reassess their beliefs about differences between Republicans and Democrats.
Although few people actually read party platforms, they are one of the best written sources for what the parties believe in. A brief summary of the 1996 Democratic and Republican platforms is given in Table 8.2 in the textbook. Ask your class to read the summaries and then discuss whether the perception that there is "no difference" between Democrats and Republicans is correct.
As a library project, ask students to read editorials for a period of several days following Ronald Reagan's 1980 and 1984 elections. They should have no difficulty in finding a number of articles that speculated on whether this was a realigning election. Ask them to write "follow-up" essays reflecting on Bill Clinton's victories in 1992 and 1996. Were the journalists correct in describing the early 1980s as a realigning period? Why or why not?