About Us
Congress: The Context
The simulation includes five case studies, each of which is intended to teach different lessons about congressional elections. The central aspects of each case are summarized below. Teachers can use anywhere from one to five of these cases in class (see the section on How to Play the Game). These sketches could be provided to students if teachers desire student input into which case(s) the class chooses for the simulation.
In introducing the simulation to students, teachers may want to consult "Resources for Case Studies." Students will find this section useful, too.
Case Study #1 - Congressman Pothole Loses
Touch
Case Study #2 - The All-Out Ideological War
Case Study #3 - The Scandal
Case Study #4 - The Extremist
Case Study #5 - The Redistricting
How to Teach with the Case Studies
Resources for Case Studies
Case Study #1 - Congressman Pothole Loses Touch
This case study is the story of long-term Congressman Max Dodge, a Democrat who may have lost touch with his increasingly Republican district. Dodge has built up a slim legislative record but has a long record of bringing pork barrel benefits back to the district. He hopes that this will help him withstand the toughest challenge he has ever faced in his career, being waged by popular Republican state senator Charles Green.
Case Study #2 - The All-Out Ideological War
In an open-seat congressional election, Democrat Mary Rodriguez is running against Republican Kurt Bullard. There is no scandal to get in the way here - this race is simply about issues like abortion, affirmative action, the environment, and income redistribution (taxes). This is likely to be a very close race, putting a premium on the ability of each candidate to energize his or her own voters and pull voters away from the other party.
Democrat John Violet had a safe seat in this district where Democrats outnumber Republicans by two-to-one. Then, he was arrested for drunk driving in an well-publicized incident. Although Violet has dealt reasonably well with the scandal, it remains a concern to his campaign. The Republican nominee, Richard Casper, a formerly unknown candidate, may find himself in the right place at the right time.
Republican incumbent Peter Fairchild is very conservative on social issues, being one of the leaders of the pro-life caucus in the House and a strong supporter of school prayer. While those kind of Christian Right positions seem to play well in the district, Democrat Scott Sykes is running a campaign alleging that Fairchild may be devoting too much time to these social issues and not enough time and energy to the farm crisis that plagues this district. Sykes must overcome his "incorrect" position on abortion if he hopes to win.
Case Study #5 - The Redistricting
After the most recent census, Democrats in the state of Rockland divided up the district held for fourteen years by Republican Al Sparks into three parts. Sparks has decided not to retire, but instead will challenge Regina Flett, an African-American Democrat who is the incumbent in one of the three districts that holds Sparks's former district. Seventy percent of the new district was in Flett's old district. Can Sparks continue his congressional career by defeating another incumbent on her turf?
How to Teach with the Case Studies
Each of the case studies begins with sections on the district and on the Republican and Democratic candidates. These sections are intended to provide some context to the story. They explain the important geographical and political features of the district in which the election will take place, and also give a brief biography of the two major party candidates seeking the seat. Finally, these sections also discuss some of the hot issues in the election. After reading this material, teachers and students will have a basic idea of what the campaign is likely to look like.
Each case study will have three additional sections aimed at helping the students strategize. First, the case study will have an analysis of the race from "political analyst Sam Balish." The Balish report handicaps the race and offers a neutral view of what each candidate must do in order to win. Second, the case studies include "pirated excerpts" of confidential memos written for each candidate by a consultant at the national Democratic and Republican Party headquarters. This offers the party's advice to each candidate on what they need to do to succeed. Teachers will find the Balish report and the strategy memos useful as they suggest strategic plans for the teams to follow. Teachers can make their own determinations whether to share these materials with students.
A comprehensive case study would run far more pages than the three pages I have provided for each case. I have made a conscious decision to seek brevity in presenting the cases. Had I included detailed position statements for each possible issue, the case studies could easily have been ten pages long and therefore too overwhelming. To fill in the blanks, this simulation guide contains a section on the different issue positions held by Democrats and Republicans. Teachers can assume that unless further information is given, candidates follow the issue positions held by the mainstreams of their parties.
here is room for some creativity here if teachers want to allow it. Teachers can allow students to embellish the person histories I have presented, such as by providing more details on candidate careers or suggesting fictitious bills they might have introduced or supported. If teachers do not want to allow this, they can certainly restrict students to only using material provided in the cases. Teachers may also feel free to move beyond the information I have presented here and add their own material to the cases. While some teachers may find value in adding to the case studies, they are written so as to be easily usable for teachers who want to simply download and use them.
