Did changes in state constitutions tend to affect the voting population? In this lesson, students discuss the general trend in the first half of the 19th century to extend the right to vote to more white males.
The rivalry between the Federalists and Republicans in the early days of the American Republic was bitter. What were the key positions of the parties? How important to the parties' positions were their basic attitudes toward constitutional interpretation (Federalists, broad interpretation / Democratic-Republicans, strict interpretation)? Which positions of either party resonate in the politics of today?
The MIT Election Data and Science Lab (MEDSL) supports advances in election science by collecting, analyzing, and sharing core data and findings. The lab also aims to build relationships with election officials and others to help apply new scientific research to the practice of democracy in the United States.
By applying scientific principles to how elections are studied and administered, MEDSL aims to improve the democratic experience for all U.S. voters.
The MIT Election Lab is a founding partner in the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project, which was developed to ensure that the 2020 election can proceed with integrity, safety, and equal access. The project aims to do this by bringing together academics, civic organizations, election administrators, and election administration experts to assess and promote best practices.
The goal of this video lesson is to teach students about new and exciting ways of holding an election that they may not be aware of. Students will learn three different methods of voting: plurality, instant runoff, and the Borda count. They will be led through a voting experiment in which they will see the weakness of plurality when there are three or more candidates. This lesson will show that not every voting system is perfect, and that each has its strengths and weaknesses. It will also promote thought, discussion, and understanding of the various methods of voting.
Madeline Noonan starts every class day with a morning meeting. Students use vocabulary to describe how they're feeling, practice speaking in front of peers, and gain trust by sharing a little about themselves. A daily "greeting" adds a bit of fun.
As we get caught up in elections cycles and endless political debates, we can sometimes forget what democracy is and its institutions; how they work, their strengths and weaknesses. It's divided into 5 sections.
The state of democracy
The first part looks at the overall state of democracy across the world. After definining what a democracy is, we're look at how not all democracies are equal in measure, with some having more functioning democratic institutions than others. A useful recap of the other major types of government will feature.
Checks and balances
The separation of powers (legislative, executive and judicial) come from the premise that concentrating power in the hands of one person, party or government can have a detrimental effect on society. Hence why power and functions are distributed across separate and independent entities.
Thriving political culture
A democracy is more than voting once every x number of years. It's first of all making sure everyone who is elligible to vote can easily do so (obstacles are common). Political culture is also determined through the freedom to contest and protest.
Transparency, accountability & corruption
It is a given that a functioning democracy, with politicians elected by the people who get to decide how tax-payer money is spent, decision-making processes and accounting should be as transparant and corruption-free as possible. Unfortunately, lobbying and other forms of corruption are proven to be a hindrance on democracy as a whole.
Media: the fourth power
What is discussed in media outlets - from podcasts to TikTok videos, news articles to TV news bulletins - can have a significant impact on society, raising matters of public interest, forcing politicians to take position, debate and take action.
Hence the importance of a free press. One that is independent, can speak openly about any issue, criticise the government if need be, without fear of reprisal. It is also crucial that information is transparent, that journalists can access information on what governments are doing without hindrance.
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Part of the political science collection.
This course explores the relationship between political institutions and economic development, covering key theoretical issues as well as recent empirical evidence. Topics include corruption, democracy, dictatorship, and war. Discusses not just what we know on these topics, but how we know it, covering how to craft a good empirical study or field experiment and how to discriminate between reliable and unreliable evidence.
MITx Online Version
This course is part of the Micromaster’s Program in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy through MITx Online. The course is entirely free to audit, though learners have the option to pay a fee, which is based on the learner’s ability to pay, to take the proctored exam, and earn a course certificate. To access the course, create an MITx Online account and enroll in the course 14.750x Political Economy and Economic Development.
This is a module framework. It can be viewed online or downloaded as a zip file.
As taught Autumn Semester 2010/2011.
This module will introduce students to key debates in the study of political behaviour. The module will focus specifically on the core ‘pillars’ of political behaviour (elections, voting, political participation and, to a lesser extent, public opinion). Through the module students will explore theories and methodologies used by political scientists to study these key aspects of political behaviour. Voters, political parties, party members and activists, and forms of political participation more generally will be addressed.
The module will build on the knowledge students might have gained during their undergraduate degrees while introducing them to new debates and literatures. Students will be introduced to, and encouraged to critically assess, major approaches to studying these political phenomena and will gain a firm understanding of the interplay between theory and empirical research.
Module Code: M13128
Suitable for study at: Undergraduate level 3
Credits:20
Dr Matthew Goodwin, School of Politics and International Relations
Dr Matthew Goodwin obtained his BA (First Class Hons) in Politics and Contemporary History at the University of Salford and MA in Political Science at the University of Western Ontario. He completed his PhD at the Department of European Studies and Modern Languages at the University of Bath, under the supervision of Professor Roger Eatwell and Professor Anna Cento Bull. Before being appointed Lecturer at the University of Nottingham, Dr Goodwin was Temporary Lecturer at the University of Bath, Research Associate at the University of Manchester and an ESRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Manchester).
At broad level Dr Goddwin's research clusters around electoral behaviour and, to a lesser extent, public policy. His research interests are mainly in extremist political parties and the roots of their support, especially extreme right-wing parties. He also has a strong interest in party membership and activism, and the study of political participation more generally. This research has been published in journals including the European Journal of Political Research, Political Studies and the Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties (JEPOP), among others. Dr Goodwin has also recently co-edited a volume - The New Extremism in 21st Century Britain (Routledge) which explores support for alternative forms of extremism and implications for public policy, police and practice.
Professor Philip Cowley defines a political concept in 60 seconds for those with a spare minute to learn something new. This videocast focuses on voting at 16.
Warning: video does contain bloopers and out takes.
May 2010
Suitable for Undergraduate study and Community education
Professor Philip Cowley, Professor of Parliamentary Government, School of Politics and International Relations
Professor Philip Cowley is Professor of Parliamentary Government at The University of Nottingham. He is an expert in British politics, especially political parties, voting and Parliament. His research interests and project activities cover backbench behaviour and dissent in the House of Commons 2001-5 Parliament; research on the current Parliament and issues to do with political engagement, the disconnection between politicians and the public and ideas for parliamentary reform imported from outside the UK.
Professor Philip Cowley has also conducted previous research on moral debates in British politics and the British Conservative Party and studied the behaviour of British MP's since the election of Tony Blair as Prime Minister. He is author of Revolts and Rebellions, Parliamentary Voting under Blair and editor of the British General Election of xxxx series, with Dennis Kavanagha, having taken over from David Butler, after his 50+ years involved in the project.
Professor Philip Cowley defines a political concept in 60 seconds for those with a spare minute to learn something new. This videocast focuses on voting at 16.
Warning: video does contain bloopers and out takes.
May 2010
Suitable for Undergraduate study and Community education
Professor Philip Cowley, Professor of Parliamentary Government, School of Politics and International Relations
Professor Philip Cowley is Professor of Parliamentary Government at The University of Nottingham. He is an expert in British politics, especially political parties, voting and Parliament. His research interests and project activities cover backbench behaviour and dissent in the House of Commons 2001-5 Parliament; research on the current Parliament and issues to do with political engagement, the disconnection between politicians and the public and ideas for parliamentary reform imported from outside the UK.
Professor Philip Cowley has also conducted previous research on moral debates in British politics and the British Conservative Party and studied the behaviour of British MP's since the election of Tony Blair as Prime Minister. He is author of Revolts and Rebellions, Parliamentary Voting under Blair and editor of the British General Election of xxxx series, with Dennis Kavanagha, having taken over from David Butler, after his 50+ years involved in the project.
Professor Cees van der Eijk defines a political concept in 60 seconds for those with a spare minute to learn something new. This videocast focuses on voting as a political concept.
Warning: video does contain bloopers and out takes.
May 2010
Suitable for Undergraduate study and Community education
Professor Cees van der Eijk, School of Politics and International Relations
Professor Cees van der Eijk is Professor of Social Science Research Methods, and Director of Social Sciences Methods and Data Institute at the University of Nottingham.
Before joining Nottingham he was Professor of Political Science the University of Amsterdam, following two Lectureships and Readership in Methodology. He has been a Research Fellow at NIAS (Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences and Humanities), a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and is member-correspondent of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences.
Professor Cees van der Eijk defines a political concept in 60 seconds for those with a spare minute to learn something new. This videocast focuses on voting as a political concept.
Warning: video does contain bloopers and out takes.
May 2010
Suitable for Undergraduate study and Community education
Professor Cees van der Eijk, School of Politics and International Relations
Professor Cees van der Eijk is Professor of Social Science Research Methods, and Director of Social Sciences Methods and Data Institute at the University of Nottingham.
Before joining Nottingham he was Professor of Political Science the University of Amsterdam, following two Lectureships and Readership in Methodology. He has been a Research Fellow at NIAS (Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences and Humanities), a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and is member-correspondent of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences.
At Amsterdam Professor van der Eijk was Dean of Education, and remains on the Directors Boards of the Amsterdam School of Communication Research and the Dutch Foundation for Electoral Research (SKON). He also serves on the Executive Board for the Social and Behavioral Sciences of NWO (the Dutch National Science Foundation), and was between 1991 and 1996 the President of the Dutch Political Science Association.
He has taught guest lectures or short courses at other universities in the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Ireland, Britain, Germany and the USA, and to government and commercial audiences.
In this project, you will explore a real-world problem, and then work through a series of steps to analyze that problem, research ways the problem could be solved, then propose a possible solution to that problem. Often, there are no specific right or wrong solutions, but sometimes one particular solution may be better than others. The key is making sure you fully understand the problem, have researched some possible solutions, and have proposed the solution that you can support with information / evidence.Begin by reading the problem statement in Step 1. Take the time to review all the information provided in the statement, including exploring the websites, videos and / or articles that are linked. Then work on steps 2 through 8 to complete this problem-based learning experience.
Governments don’t work the way most people think they do. In this lecture, Professor Antony Davies of Duquesne University explains public choice theory, a branch of economics that explores how voters, politicians, and bureaucrats actually make decisions.
Why do politicians never seem to cut government spending? Using public choice economics, Professor Ben Powell of Suffolk University explains why it's difficult to cut policies with concentrated benefits and dispersed costs.
In this activity students learn about literacy tests and other barriers that kept black Southerners from being able to vote. Students also take a 1960s literacy test from Alabama.
This site on the U.S. Senate webpage includes information, primary sources, political cartoons and other images related to the suffragist movement and the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
In this activity, students analyze documents to arrange events on a timeline of women's suffrage. The timeline and documents will help students understand the intersection of social movements and constitutional change. This activity can be modified by reducing the number of documents. An optional Smartboard Notebook file is included to facilitate the activity.
A cynical view of party competition for the working man's vote in the presidential campaign of 1852. In a polling place, four candidates struggle to force their own election ticket on a short, uncouth-looking character in a long coat. The latter holds a whip, suggesting that he is either a New York cabman or a farmer. The candidates are (left to right): Whig senator from Massachusetts Daniel Webster, Texas Democrat Sam Houston, Illinois Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, and Whig general Winfield Scott. The cartoon must have been produced before the June 5 nomination of dark-horse Franklin Pierce as the Democratic candidate, as Pierce is not shown. Webster: "My honest friend, these men are interested parties, I have no further interest in this matter myself, than the inclination to 'Serve my beloved Country,' My Family cannot subsist on less than 25,000 $ a year." His comment may refer to his own personal financial straits or to the nepotism involved in securing his son Fletcher's lucrative appointment as surveyor of the Port of Boston in 1850. Scott (in uniform, grasping the man's coat): "My good Friend, allow me to present you this Ticket, I am 'Old Genl. Scott' you know me, I licked the British & the Mexicans, if elected I shall probably lick all Europe." Houston: "This is the 'Ticket' for you, my good friend, I am 'Old Sam Houston' if elected I shall not only 'lick all of Europe,' but all 'Creation' to boot." Douglas (his arms around the man): "There, there, go away, go away, don't worry the man, leave him to me, leave him to me." Affixed to the wall at right are two posters or signs marked "DEMT." and "WHIG." In the left background stands Henry Clay leaning against a chair observing the scene, along with President Millard Fillmore who looks in through a window.|Probably drawn by John L. Magee.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Lorant, p. 21.|Weitenkampf, p. 105-106.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1852-9.
This course provides an introduction to the vast literature devoted to public opinion. In the next 12 weeks, we will survey the major theoretical approaches and empirical research in the field of political behavior (though we will only tangentially discuss political participation and voting). For the most part we will focus on American public opinion, though some of the work we will read is comparative in nature.