Civics 101—Election Time!

This fall is an excellent time to teach key civics concepts to your kids. With the churn going on, I don’t believe it’s ever been more important for our kids to understand the design of our electoral process and why it was designed as it was. Teaching it now has extra value because we are in the throes of a fundamental process this year—a presidential election. The knowledge they gain now can shape their understanding of our country and the US’s role in the world. You can teach your kids the most important thing—their responsibility in our system of government.

In a way, you could look at citizens as the fourth branch of government. After all, we were established as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. If we don’t understand our responsibility, it’s easy to abdicate that responsibility. Some are called to take a more significant role by working on campaigns or election boards. Some are called to run for office. Some are called only to vote, but voting is our most fundamental right and responsibility because we are all (with some limitations) offered that role in our system of government.

What I do know is that even as adults, many of us never received good training on the structure of our government. If that’s the case for you, you get to learn along with your kids! We go to vote, but do we know why the process exists in the form it does? If we look at current events, where are we deviating from that process, and what do we lose or gain? These are all good things to discuss with your kids—of any age! I also believe that an informed populace is better governed; we need to raise our kids with a clear understanding of how our government works so that they can make informed decisions when it’s their turn to be the voting populace.

Some questions to begin with:

• What is the difference between a democracy and a democratic republic? Which is ours and why? What are the benefits of our system of government? These differences are a bit more complex than one might initially think. Here is a link to help you understand the differences and where the US lies: https://www.diffen.com/difference/Democracy_vs_Republic.
• What is a federalist government? Why is it vital for you to be involved as a citizen in a federalist system?

Then, explore the three branches of government and the election process:

• What are the roles of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches? They exist at the national, state, and local levels. Can you identify who these people are in your community?
• Who is elected and why, and who is appointed and by whom?
• What does it mean to have checks and balances between the branches of government? We don’t want any one branch to have too much control. Why? How are the checks and balances implemented in our system of government?
• Why do the people directly elect members of Congress but not the president?
• What is the final step in electing our president?
• What is the Electoral College? Who is in it? When does it act? What is its value? Why do some people want to eliminate it? What would the ramifications of eliminating it be?

This article, which covers the basics, is a good resource: https://www.history.com/topics/us-government-and-politics/three-branches-of-government. It covers most of the questions above in digestible form and includes some videos on each branch of government. Another resource that I found and really like is one geared toward younger kids. As an activity they can even structure a pretend campaign and run for office! There are great lesson plans for parents with PDFs, slides, and downloadable resources: https://www.icivics.org/election.

In my homeschooling journey, I came to understand that a topic that is pertinent to current events is significant and deeply learned. I hope your kids are excited about the country they live in and that they grow up wanting to play an active role in it at some level. Remember, that excitement starts with us!