Customer Reviews

How Do We Elect Our Leaders? (My American Government)

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In Australia 95% of the people cast their votes in elections. In 2000 only half of Americans even bothered going to the polls. It's not that Australians are more enthusiastic about electing their officials, but rather they are required by law to do so. Voting is a privilege that we have and should use. Every four years we elect a president and this book is a very useful tool in understanding the process in which we elect our leaders. We have two major political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, but there are several other minor parties as well.

There are many people who would like to be president, but political parties need to know who to support so early on there are primary elections that "begin very early in an election year." Some states have elected to hold caucuses to throw their support behind a candidate. In this book you'll learn about conventions, how candidates campaign, term limits, the popular vote, when the elections are held, the electoral college, inauguration day, "inauguration firsts," the close election of 2000, requirements needed to become an elected official, how stated officials are elected and the importance of voting.

I liked the set up of this book very much. The book was packed with information and had a nice flow to it. The numerous sidebar materials had a lot of very interesting facts. They were placed at appropriate intervals and don't drive the reader crazy trying to go back and forth trying to read them and follow the text at the same time. In the back of the book is a glossary (words used in the text were highlighted in bold) an excellent index and additional recommended book and web site resources. Did you know that "women in Wyoming got the right to vote in 1869?" This is one of many interesting facts you'll find in this book!