Content Area(s)/Course/Grade: Social Studies/Government/Civics 6-12 grades
Progression: Designed to be an enrichment activity following a study of U.S. elections. Ideally this activity
would come after the students have studies elections in the U.S. and have learned about the role of interest
groups, PACs, and political parties on the election process.

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to identify the challenges created by shorter campaign periods inJapanese elections in getting new and/or popular candidates into office. Students will be able to identify howU.S. elections are susceptible to influence from special interest groups (specifically in relation to funding and aclearly identifiable electorate support.)

Student Outcome(s): Through small group and whole class discussion, students will improve their ability toanalyze and apply concepts of U.S. government (specifically related to elections) in comparison to otherdemocratic forms of government. Through this analysis, students will gain a deeper understanding of theunintended consequences of policy and law on elections.

Additionally, students will be practicing annotation, text-supported discussion, and synthesis skills as they
complete the activities.

Context for Learning
While there is little background knowledge of Japan’s government system necessary for this lesson, a handout
with a basic description of their three branch system taken from the official website of the Japanese Prime
Minister is provided for the teacher’s benefit. The important point to stress is that both systems arerepresentative democracies but that their governing bodies are structured differently.

Instructional Delivery
Warmup (approx. 5 minutes):
Identify an element of the U.S. election process you would change and why?

Have students turn to a partner and discuss their answer to the warm up question.

Procedures:
1. Handout the accompanying article and provide time for students to read and annotate (approx. 10minutes)
2. In small groups have the students work together to complete the comparison chart. They should include
specific text based references from the article whenever possible. The teacher should encourage
discussion amongst group members that includes the student’s experience with U.S. elections including(but not limited to) candidate advertising, debates, media commentary, etc. (approx. 15 minutes)
3. Once the groups have completed the chart the teacher should lead a whole class discussion of thefollowing questions (approx. 15 minutes):a. Why do you think the author spent so much time listing their credentials in the beginning? Did
this impact the way you viewed his perspective?
i. Student answers will vary but should focus on the credibility of the author based on botheducation and practical experience.
b. The influence of special interest groups is often a concern that comes up during U.S. elections.
How does the Japanese campaign rules explained in the article and in the provided backgroundhandout address the concern of special interest influence?
i. Student answers will vary but should bring up that the length of campaigns in Japan dolimit the influence of special interest groups. However, the short length of time also
creates a challenge to getting new politicians into office and has led to increase inpolitical dynasties. The U.S. by comparison has longer campaign periods which haveincreased the need to court funding and support from special interest groups.
Discussion can continue as long as the teacher prefers but should have students reference back to thetext frequently to support their answers.

Assessment/Evaluation (Formative/Summative)-

The whole class discussion questions can be modified to be used as an individual writing assignment.

-The charts can also be turned in for a formative grade along with the annotation of the article.

Closure (approx. 5 minutes):
Reinforce to students that democracies take many forms. Rules and guidelines meant to discourage one
challenge like special interest influence (by shortening campaign periods) can lead to unintended challenges(getting new politicians into office.) No system is perfect but the underlying motivation to maintain an engaged
and participatory electorate are the same.

Teacher Key
Using the article Comparing election in the U.S. and Japan; the good, the bad, and the ugly from the Japan
Times compare the elections of both countries using the chart below.

Japan

Length of thecampaign
period“official campaign periods
lasting around two weeks.”
Japanese campaign cycles arevery short compared to the U.S.
particularly for the Presidentialrace.
This can lead to politicaldynasties where family namerecognition can play asignificant role in a candidate’selectability.

Style ofcampaigning

The role ofpolitical parties“sound trucks”
The article implies the definition
but if students need moreclarification. Sound trucks refers
to the literal trucks that role
candidates (and theirrepresentatives) around theirdistrict with loud speakers
shouting messages to sway
voters and pausing for pop up
speeches.
“Japan essentially has only one
party – the Liberal Democratic
Party –…“
Japan’s proportional election
system gets some of the same
criticism that the Electoral
College does (i.e. the ability of acandidate to lose the popular
vote but still win the election.) It
favors party candidates by
allowing them to gain extra seatsin the Diet.

United States
Can last for more than a year.
Presidential campaigns are thelongest sometimes starting as earlyas 18 months before the officialelection.

The length (and subsequent expense)of the elections can prove an
opening for interest groups whoprovide fundraising support andadvertising (through PACs).

“mud-slinging, ad hominem attacks,
and the distractions and corruptionsof political celebrity...”The U.S. has seen a shift away fromparty line candidacies and more
toward individual personality
focused campaigns.

The U.S. has two major parties withthird parties holding very littleinfluence.
“…you get ridiculed for wasting
your vote and knocking out the more
viable candidate. No third party has
ever come close to winning apresidential election…”

Style ofmessaging bycandidates

Very general. “…candidates
generally get away with mere
ganbarimasu (do-my-best)sound-truck platitudes.”Candidates focus on a “fewfirebrand issues….there aremanifestoes and explicit policy
clarifications expected of acandidate, i.e. where they stand on
the issues.”

Reference:
The Japan Times _Comparing elections in the U.S. and Japan_ the good, the bad and the ugly
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2016/10/02/issues/comparing-elections-u-s-japan-good-bad-ugly/