« Bringing Down the Government: Motions of Non-Confidence | Main | Political and Civic Processes : Election Project »

Political and Civic Processes : Election Campaign

Election Campaign

During an actual provincial or federal election,
use any or all of the following activities:

− Review the relevant political parties and
their platforms. Have students create a
brochure to outline a selected party’s
platform.
− Have students create a profile of local
candidates, using information from their web
sites and advertising, all-candidates
meetings, and media coverage.
− Guide students through an analysis of party
and special interest group TV and print ads
(e.g., target audience, message, methods of
influence, negative vs. positive ads).
− Track polling numbers using polling firm
and media web sites over the course of the
election. Discuss as a class.
− Screen segments of the leaders’ debate, and
have students write a response journal on
their reaction to the debate content and style.
− Register your school for a voting simulation
such as Student Vote.
− Have students make predictions of the
election outcome and discuss reliability and
potential impact of polling. In assessing
reliability, students should consider issues
such as sample size and composition,
question, etc.
• Assess students’ work by asking them to write
response journal entries and through assessment
of class discussions. Criteria such as those
outlined in the sample assessment instruments
provided at the end of this unit (Participation in
Class Discussions, Debates, and Simulations
and Response Journal) can be used as the basis
for assessment.

Resources:

Elections Canada  and Elections BC web sites

check the links within this site

Canadian Elections Glossary
The Canadian Electoral System
History of the Vote in Canada
SFU Election History Site
Prime Minister Forever - 2006 : a downloadable game
that simulates an election, from CBC
Maple Leaf Web, University of Lethbridge
Top 5 Elections in Canada

Registered Federal Political Parties