Students can register here to participate.
During the course of this seven-week contest, students will learn the intricacies of running a sustained, focused presidential campaign for a fictional candidate. Along the way, students will investigate the history of the presidential office and the duties of a President. They will develop a platform for their candidate, learn to negotiate the demands of the media, the needs of their constituency, and the need to form relationships with their chosen party, political action committees, special interest groups, and non-profit organizations. Students will also learn how campaign officials conduct polls and surveys, how they analyze results, and how they modify their campaigns accordingly. Teams of students will further investigate a variety of current political issues such as campaign finance reform, education, and foreign policy and practice a variety of discursive strategies that can be used to sway public opinion.