Ch 10 - Interest Groups - Class 1

CH 09

3. How does the electoral college work, and why do we still have it?

4. What are the various stages of the modern Senate and House elections, and why does incumbency advantage exist despite low approval ratings for Congress?

CH 10

1. How do unions and management engage in the collective bargaining process?

1. Quiz: Ch 10 - Interest Groups 
2. Analyze: Electoral College
• Why do we have the electoral college?
• How are each state's electoral votes allocated?
• How does it actually work?
• What is the biggest obstacle to replacing it with the popular vote?  Why?
• What would be the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact?
3. Analyze: Congressional Elections
• What are the stages of a Congressional election?
• How do the average re-election rates compare between the House and the Senate?
• What are the causes of incumbency advantage?
• Name Recognition, Fundraising Gap, Experience, Federal Funding for Projects ("Pork"), Constituent Service, Franking, Gerrymandering
4. Create: Collective Bargaining
• Unions and businesses are examples of interest groups
• The collective bargaining agreement at Blue Shipping is set to expire tomorrow
• We will have two separate simulated negotiations today
• Within each negotiation, there are three groups: 
• the Blue Shipping management 
• the Blue Shipping union 
• Let's review the expiring contract and compare it to other shipping companies:   
• Step #1: You have five minutes to meet with your side and prepare for negotiations
• Step #2: You have fifteen minutes to negotiate a new contract
• Step #3: You must announce the outcome
• Reach an agreement
• Union goes on strike
• Management announces a lock-out
• What were the results of the various negotiations? What did we learn about collective bargaining? What did we learn about leadership?