Battle on the Ballot: Political Outsiders in US Presidential Elections

With the upcoming 2020 elections, there are many candidates who are running that considered outsiders.  This may seem different to us today but actually, history shows there were many outsiders that started something new.  Click here to go to the Digital Public Library of America to see the digital exhibition on outsiders in presidential elections.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

• analyze campaigns for elective office. .
• recognize the importance of outsiders in a campaign.

Essential Question

How do we decide who leads us?

Procedure:

1. Introduction

The circumstances surrounding each election varies, but this exhibition will examine how each outsider candidate turned their lack of governing experience into a political asset and why major parties—perhaps the ultimate insider institutions—embraced these outsider candidates.

2. Explore

Read the articles on: Military Hero Turned President, Third-Party Reformers, Women Candidates, Anti-Outsider Platforms, and African Americans and Presidential Politics

3. Explain

Discuss your ideas, opinions, and understandings about what you have explored to other members of your class. Compare and contrast the different groups.  

4. Assess

Driving Question: What do the different groups of outsiders have in common? What differences exist?

Directions: Use what you have read and the notes you have taken and use one of the activities to present your answer to the driving question.  

Types of Activities:

• Write an essay
• Make a video
• Create a screencast
• Make a poster
• Write a blog post

Revision and Adaptation. Provided by: Digital Public Library of America. Title of Work: Battle on the Ballot: Political Outsiders in US Presidential Elections  License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  

Alternative Activities

After students have researched and understand the concept of political outsiders, have them choose one of the 2020 presidential candidates that they feel qualifies as a political outsider.  Students must provide at least three reasons why they would be considered political outsiders.  The NY Times maintains a list of the current presidential candidates for 2020, follow this LINK.