National Chamber of Commerce History Discussion

1. Assignment – Create a Candidate

In the last section, we learned about the various political parties that exist in the United States today. In this section, we studied how the parties nominate their candidates and how campaigns are run. In this assignment, you’ll put your knowledge from both of these sections together to create a fictional presidential candidate from the party of your choice. Follow the steps below to complete this assignment:

• Select one of the minor parties (NOT Democrats or Republicans). You may use the Politics1 website or any other resource to select and research your party.
• After you’ve researched your party, create a list of 5 issues that will comprise your candidate’s platform. Make sure it is properly based on the issues supported/opposed by your chosen party.
• Write a brief biography of your candidate. What is his/her background? Why is he/she running for president? Be sure to include factors like gender, age, occupation, etc.
• Write a 1-2 page campaign speech that your candidate could give explaining his/her platform and reason for wanting to be elected. Be sure the speech is persuasive and realistic.

Once you’ve completed this activity, submit your platform list, biography and speech to your instructor. Be sure to include a list of sources you used in your research of your party. This list should include at least two sources, with one being the party’s official homepage.

2. Assignment – Interest Groups

As we discussed, there are many different interest groups that exist in the United States today. For this activity, you will choose one such group and do some research to figure out what it does and how it does it. Follow these steps:

• Select an interest group from the list. (National Chamber of Commerce)
• Research the web and other resources for information about your chosen interest group. Be sure to check out their official homepage for the most reputable information. You will need a total of 3 sources in all.
• Find information about the group’s beliefs – what do the stand for? – and how they go about supporting their interests – do they lobby Congress, encourage grassroots letter writing campaigns, organize protests, etc.?
• Write a 1-2 page essay summarizing your group’s beliefs and actions. Be sure to also include your source list of at least 3 sources.