GED Social Studies…Primary Elections
Yeah, voting! The GED test is supposed to measure skills that you can use in real life. So, why not see how GED social studies is part of your life every day? You’ve seen the primaries on the news, right? Voting to choose who’s going to be on the ballot. Voting is about government, and government is part of the GED test! Guess what, though? Voting in a primary isn’t even a right you have under the law. If they wanted too, the top people in the Republican Party or the Democratic Party could get together and figure out who to nominate for president.
Did you notice how complicated primaries seem to be? In some states there are primaries, and in some there are caucuses. What’s the difference? And in different states there’s a different system for how your vote counts. Yikes!
Here’s the first thing. Primary elections and caucuses are a way for people to elect delegates…those are the people who go to the Republican and Democratic national convention. You’re not really voting for McCain or Obama or Clinton. Instead, you’re voting for a delegate who’s going to vote for McCain or Obama or Clinton.
In the past (and that’s what history is about, right?), most states had caucuses, which are a kind of meeting where people get together to figure out who to send as a delegate… in other words, who to vote for. Then, in the 1960s, people wanted to make it more “democratic.” Have more people represented by votes in the primaries. That makes sense, right? You want to find out who people want to vote for…cuz those are the people who are going to be voting in the Presidential election, too.
Over time, a lot of states changed from having caucuses to having primaries to give more people a chance to vote. So, now, like 40 states have primaries and the rest have caucuses.
Are you confused yet? Each state does it differently, and each party does it differently! Doesn’t it seem like they should get organized nationally and decide on one system that works better?
Check out some more information about the primary system:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2004/primaries/sr_primary_overview.html
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=/Politics/archive/200802/POL20080207a.html
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0307/3209.html
Hey, learn something new today! Think about it… is the primary system broken? Does it need to be fixed? At least understanding it can help with your GED! Good luck…and get that GED!
For more information on the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at passGED.com.
