Finals

It's finals week so I'm just discussing thesis judges with my mentor and working on thesis and studying government at the same time (pros of doing a government-related thesis).

Also working on the thesis presentation I'm giving after break.

Winter break update: finished the presentation, found this report for IRV as well. Also my mentor responded with thesis judge ideas, so I have to go chase these people down now!

Instant Runoff Voting

I sent in my term paper! Also I'm super hyper since some close friends got into their top choice schools and I got my AP money ($500!) :)

Today I researched some cons of instant runoff voting (alternative vote) since it is one of my top choice reforms.

The two biggest issues are money and technology. New machines have to be bought to count the ranked votes and those are sometimes programmed incorrectly, leading to lawsuits. Another thing that came up was voter confusion; voters not familiar with the idea did not understand the ranking idea and how it was being implemented. It did however save money by preventing an additional runoff race. The technology hurdle is a significant problem: this article says that it causes IRV to fail North Carolina's voting standards.

Before IRV could be implemented information about the system would have to be distributed. The issues that it faced in getting passed on local levels would not be as big a factor in getting it passed on a statewide level because the argument there was concerning a statute in which the majority winner had to be a true majority, not a majority resulting from a "runoff". There isn't such a law concerning of the presidential election. Also, there would have to an increased focus on debates to disseminate information since there won't be a separate runoff. I want to use it in the primaries too, since that is where there is an issue with multiple candidates.

Reading about instant runoff: this article points out that IRV would encourage the candidates to work together to avoid alienating voters who are figuring out who their second-choice rank candidate is. It will also help moderate candidates in an environment that is extreme and partisan. By eliminating "spoiler" candidates, third party ideas would get more headway, which is important for political debate and social reforms. This article also lists a litany of places, institutions, and countries that use IRV so I have to put those somewhere too.

NOTE TO LOOK AT CAMPAIGN FUNDING NEXT WEEK

Mr. Correa says I get an automatic 100 for turning in my term paper first. Since I have no idea if he's trolling me I'm just gonna put that here for reference.

We're really graduating

We spent longer than was necessary filling out the graduation payment forms because of several technical issues.

I'm working on a file that lists the things I want to put in my final class presentation. I also emailed my mentor about thesis judges.

Reading this paper. Notes:
The paper begins by discussing some of the benefits of the electoral college/ why it would be difficult to get it changed. The College favors the smaller states, and getting a law that changes it to pass in those states is difficult. The contingency procedure for selecting the president if the electoral college is a tie is also discussed (that procedure is unpopular but has as of yet never been used). The authors are concerned about the possibility of a Lame Duck congress electing the president.

Also read more Alternate Vote (also Instant runoff voting):
It is used in many places all over the world for gubernatorial elections, mayor elections, and in Ireland and Australia for national elections. I have to find out what some cons of it are, because it is also used in the US for lower level elections.

Then Mr. Correa distracted us with videos for the rest of the period...

Thesis Judges

The forms for thesis judges are on the Edmodo page today, so I will be searching for judges from now on.
Continued editing the term paper today.
Reading one of the papers I put in the "to read" folder.
Notes:
The plans for abolishing or amending the electoral college were found to be destabilizing.
A national primary would increase turn out but would result in the waging of a national campaign and minimal contact with the candidates, completely destroying any chance of a media effect.
The Delaware  plan passed the Republican National Committee Rules Committee in early 2000 but failed at the July 2000 Republican Convention in Philadelphia. Its concept is good (it splits the states into pods based on population size, with the smaller states voting first. It allows the states to choose between having a primary or a caucus as well) but it doesn't account for the geographically disparate locations of the states, which are a fund hurdle as well as a campaign problem because the platforms for the states would be different (issue focus is usually regional as opposed to population-size based).
It also extends campaign time, which causes funding hurdles to rise even more.
The rotating presidential primary plan splits the USA into 4 regions, rotating which votes first. However, Iowa and New Hampshire still go before the rest of the states. It addresses some flaws in the Delaware plan by grouping the states by region, allowing candidates to focus on regional issues and get to know more about the states they are campaigning in. Unfortunately, it may extend homesteading (focusing on certain states or areas, such as "swing states" in the present) into a several year cycle, since the candidates will know years in advance which region is voting first.
The regional lottery system eliminates homesteading by randomly choosing which region votes first only a few months before the primaries. Also, Iowa and New Hampshire are not going first. This approach does rely heavily on the media and campaigns would be national, which gives reason to the funding hurdle.
The modified regional lottery system involves an additional lottery to pick two small states to go first (since Iowa and New Hampshire aren't).

More product plans:
I feel some sort of paper will be necessary in order to expand upon the pros and cons of each plan as well as the details on how each plan words. However, the paper might have a pro-con chart at the end so it's easier to retain the information. Perhaps I can incorporate some graphics as well.

In other news, I'm scheduled for a thesis presentation on January 9th, after the break. I think since it'll be a shorter presentation I'll use my favorite reforms for each stage and present those and their benefits.

We're graduating... and I'm still writing my term paper

We received more schedules and ordering forms regarding graduation and senior year.

I also continued working and editing my term paper. I have all my citations and I'm writing my conclusion.

Update: while searching for my documents I found new papers to read so there will be more notes next class!

Update: finished! Going to edit and surf more articles now. I made a "to read" document to keep track of some of the stuff I found.

Term Paper, continued

We made the paper where the seniors are going to write their college acceptances.
I continued to work on my term paper. I will have to talk about the reforms at some point and remember to include four citations minimum.
Update: I am on my second page (single-spaced)! I have two citations so far.
Another update: On the third page with three citations (and again, it's single-spaced so far).
Also, I scholarship surfed with Michelle and Keilah.

Term Paper

We have a report due (3-5 pages) by December 19th, so I worked on that today. It's supposed to be more reflective than stuffed with information so I have to do introspection, as Mr. Simmons would say. I'm going to do a little drafting/outline thing here. Also reminder: I can't ask questions in this paper.

What I learned: the election process has many steps and is complicated, and each stage has flaws that experts have detailed. Reforms will have to be enacted in different ways (some will need to be passed on a state by state basis, some need to be passed nationally at once). In addition, numerous reforms have been proposed, but each one needs to be analyzed for practicality and effectiveness (should probably name some of the most effective reform ideas at some point). Also, I had to come up with a list of goals for this project (state goals). I can also analyze some of the obstacles here.

This is mostly reflection so a large part of the paper will be about my motivations for choosing this topic and what I hope to achieve with it. I can use some stuff from my thesis presentation for that.

List of things to put in the paper: initial ideas, motivations, suggested reforms, obstacles, how far I've gotten, what I have left to do, goals.

Also added more things to the pro and con file.

Organizing!

Today I looked through my old blog posts for analyses and began to compile my pros and cons list. It's going to be hard because what some analysts see as a pro is seen as a con by others.

Some of the primary reforms that have been suggested are good ideas theoretically but don't work out very well practically. For example, having the small states go first to build up media coverage (Delaware plan) sounds great until you realize they're all spread out geographically, causing trouble when it comes to the actual movement and cost of campaigning.

Finally found the original report concerning the suggested reforms. It details some of the issues (Iowa and New Hampshire going first, frontloading, etc.) and then analyzes the reforms pretty well. The issue I am facing right now is that I can't find a con for the modified regional rotating lottery system. Well actually I guess that's great for the reform but it makes it look kind of biased.

Caucus Confusion, Funding

I'm trying to figure out the difference between a closed primary and a caucus.
It looks like a closed primary would still have more turnout than a caucus though.

I looked at my outline and the next thing is campaign advertising so I think I will be discussing some ideas with Keilah (advertising is her thesis).

Looking into the basics of campaign funding today as well:
These three primary methods of raising money and regulating it are disclosure, contribution limits, public financing.
Disclosure: every state has different requirements about how often a candidate has to disclose funds. Independent expenditure disclosure involves television and radio ads and is not coordinated with candidates, so it is not regulated, which explains the surge in ads.
Contribution limits: four states do not have contribution limits (Missouri, Oregon, Utah and Virginia)
Here is a chart of limits for the states in the 2013/14 election cycle. It's really long because each state has different requirements, definitions, and time limits. However, the amounts are in the thousands, so how PACs are allowed to donate millions of dollars is beyond me. I'm guessing they send their money to the headquarters and then it gets distributed, or there are loopholes involved.
Twenty-four states currently operate programs that give grants of state funds to candidates and/or political parties for their campaigns. The amount of money that a candidate receives varies hugely by state (some states have grants that are limited in scope, while in others the state finances the entire campaign). There are requirements involved of course. The candidate must raise a certain amount of money beforehand or otherwise prove that he/she is popular enough to merit a grant.

Another type of public financing is commonly called "Clean Elections" public financing, and is the newest idea in state campaign finance reform. Once a candidate qualifies by collecting a specified number of small contributions (often as low as $5), he or she agrees to abide by strict spending limits and is prohibited from receiving any additional contributions from private sources. Instead, he/she receives a state grant to run a campaign. This looks like a good idea and has been around in a few states since 2000, but for it to work every state would have to use it to equalize the funding barrier.

I also found two studies (here and here) that showed that electronic voting increases the amount of residual votes (votes that are not counted because they were cast incorrectly).

Also an analysis of the different primary reform proposals. Definitely need to find another one that is more balanced.
Unfortunately, having all the primaries on the same day is logistically a problem. Maybe if it's later in the year the media coverage issue could be solved.

Scattered Research (felon disenfranchisement, caucuses)

I am really having trouble finding positive articles regarding the caucuses. There is some data to show that primaries and caucuses are equally likely to have bad demographic representation, but this isn't a pro for caucuses. As can be seen in the last post, there are a litany of concerns being raised when it comes to caucuses and the only clear reason that we haven't eliminated them is tradition.
Basically for caucus reform, abolishing the system all together will be difficult, but a slow transition to a system more similar to a primary will have to be suggested (maybe beginning with changing caucuses to closed primaries, then transitioning towards open primaries).

Looked more into felon disenfranchisement today. There are arguments being made that these laws are a form of racial discrimination. Also many states actually allow felons to vote once they are released (or with other conditions) but the felons themselves are not informed of this fact and thus do not vote because they are not aware that they can.
Checking out some procon articles about the issue, but first I need to put all my new sources in one file, so I'm putting that together today. (here is the file). Sources that were already in the annotated bibliography are not included.

Notes on this article: The US is the only country amount post-industrial nations to disenfranchise non-incarcerated felons. It also has a very high incarceration rate (686/100,000 vs. 105 in Canada, 95 in Germany, and 45 in Japan). The study, by analyzing data about voter turnout in states that had disenfranchisement vs those that didn't or had different rules, determined that felon disenfranchisement resulted in changes in elections. It also could have influenced 7 highly contested senate elections, which doesn't sound like much but could influences which party had a majority. The felon disenfranchisement would also have affected the 2000 presidential election (under worst case scenarios, where the expected turnout of ex-felons is halved, Gore would have still carried the state of Florida by several thousand votes.) The 1960 election (Kennedy vs. Nixon) could have actually resulted in Nixon's victory had current rates of felon disenfranchisement been present.

On a side note, it's been really cool to see how my thesis is overlapping with so many others, even in ways that I wasn't expecting. Campaign funding relates to Kendall's thesis about PACs, campaign ads relate to Keilah's advertising thesis, and felon disenfranchisement relates to Amy's thesis about prisons for profit. While the connections are interesting and help me get more sources for data, they also showcase how widespread the problems are regarding voter turnout and the election system, as well as how far reaching the consequences are.

Caucuses confuse me; I don't know their origin and attacking the reform part is difficult. I guess first I have to see what, if any, constitutional barriers will appear when I'm trying to suggest reform for them...

Caucus and Primary Reform

Researched some pros and cons of the caucus vs. primary today.
- 12 states use caucuses, 36 states have primaries
- it's a meeting between members of a party, rather than a popular vote
- this study was cited to show some differences between the two systems
- it has very low turnout (with the exception of Iowa caucus) because it is time consuming and only registered voters with a party participate
- Caucuses are less time-consuming and cheaper than primaries
-The states that hold caucuses are rather attached to them, so banning them all together would be difficult

Notes from the study cited earlier:
- Obama won more caucuses than Hillary Clinton in 2008, but she won more primaries, leading to the idea that systemic differences in the nomination processes influence candidate choice. This was also shown in the races between Romney and McCain.
- There is evidence that caucuses have a sort of response bias, where the voters with the most strong and partisan opinions are most likely to participate.
- The methods that are employed by the caucus (one time, one place, lots of speaking, old procedure) are likely to alienate certain groups of the population, such as the disabled and those with limited English proficiency, once again leading to response bias.
- The study found that neither primaries nor caucuses have great demographic representation (caucuses had more Hispanic voters, while primaries attracted more African Americans. This was probably because of which states had which systems)
- Caucus voters were more likely to be male, educated, and less religious (in terms of church attendance)
- The studies showed that caucus participants had more extreme political views than primary participants. However, the extremism was evident for both parties.

Reforms for the primaries:
- Graduated random presidential primary
- Delaware plan
- Rotating regional primary system
- Interregional primary plan
- National primary

Reminder to look closer at the different types of primaries.

Voter Turnout

Some rather saddening facts about voter turnout and the elections in 2012 from that report last class:
The nation's most populous states (California, Texas, New York) ranked in the bottom 10 in turnout.
Swing states and Election Day registration states had the highest turnout.
99% of presidential and vice presidential campaign stops were in swing states, and the campaigns targeted 10 states, ignoring the other 40.
About 2.3 million fewer votes were cast than in 2008 (some of the low turnout was contributed to Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey and New York)
Minnesota remains the state with highest turnout in both presidential and midterm elections (must find a report about why it's so high... found this, which contributes it to the civically engaged community outreach and same day registration)
Four non-swing states (California, Alaska, Hawaii, and Oklahoma) saw double-digit percentages of decline in turnout. In California, this means over a million fewer people voted, a loss that amounts to more people than voted in Alaska, the District of Columbia, North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming combined.
A remarkable amount of youth voted, actually deciding the election in some swing states.

Well. gerrymandering has become such as issue that the report actually had to analyze the bias that results from having incumbents redesign their own districts...

There is a serious debate on whether or not all states should have same day registration: while it increases turnout, it slows down the process at the polls, making lines longer while workers fill out and file the paperwork. I have been seeing provisional voting recommended as a replacement, but those votes take longer to count and delay the results of the election. So really it's a question of what we want to delay: the voting or the counting of the votes. Or there could be some kind of compromise.
Just to see some of the details on same-day registration, I am reading this report. It appears that same-day registration costs more for smaller counties than it does larger ones. The process has been working well in the states that currently use it, but the effects of using on a large scale for the presidential election could be really different.

Day 25! (Outline, Turnout)

Worked more on the outline today and organizing notes. I got interrupted last time I was looking for caucus reform so I will be working more on that today. The cool thing about this outline is I can take notes on whichever part of the election process I feel like doing at the moment.

Researched some statistics on voter turnout to see what is being done to address the problem and who exactly we are addressing. Nonvoters are more likely than voters to be poor, not have a college education, and are more diverse in ethnicity. They have weak partisan views and are more likely to support aid to the poor. Surprisingly this other statistic shows that Asian-American turnout is low; many participants stated the reason for this as "conflicting work or school schedules."
Voters also have a negative opinion of Super PACs and the Citizens United ruling.
Felon disenfranchisement is another issue which I read about today. 5.3 million Americans are kept from voting because of this. 75% of people disenfranchised because of a felony are not living in prison.

I was researching voter turnout a lot so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I accidentally found a report on voter turnout in 2012. Unfortunately I found it 6 minutes before the bell, so it's homework reading.

Set of polls regarding the 2012 presidential election.

Also got some scholarship stuff back from Ms. Marberry and I've gotten my acceptance letter from UTD (that was strange because it was October 31st and Blaine predicted in the Inkling's horrorscopes that we would be getting college letters soon)...

Presidential Platform and Voting Methods

Looking over some political platforms that previous candidates have used.
I also printed my documents for my meeting with Ms. Marberry next week.

More on the Congressional District Method used by Maine and Nebraska:
Each district is given one electoral college vote. These go to the winner of each district, and the remaining two votes go to the winner of the state overall. Since employing this method, neither state has had to split electoral votes. Because of gerrymandering, this could be a problem and misused in many states.

Direct election with Instant Runoff voting:
Ranks candidates by preference. If no candidate has a majority, the lowest scoring one is removed and the votes are recounted until a candidate gets the majority. This prevents a plurality win and can be done a nationwide or statewide scale. (for statewide, no constitutional amendment is required). For this reason, this method is popular as a candidate for use in statewide election in states that have a history of electing governors on a plurality. It is also used in Ireland and for election of the Australian House of Representatives.
(opinion in Alaska) (this report wouldn't load in class so I'll read it at home)
Pros: Costs less than a separate runoff election, prevents plurality win (cites Jesse Ventura and previous gubernatorial candidates), eliminates spoilers, increases voter turnout, one-man-one-vote, politically neutral.
Cons: Some state legislatures require a majority (actual separate runoffs), voter confusion, strange tech issues (lost electronic votes, unreliability of touch screen, etc. these are not all specific to IRV), interesting outcomes that are unintended (the article argues that spoiler candidates, which cannot win under IRV are not bad because they highlight problems with the front runners; however they do not often win under the current voting rules (ex. Ralph Nader).)

Proportional allocation:
Each candidate receives electoral votes according to the proportion he/she won from the state (a candidate who won 45% of the vote would receive 45% of the electoral votes). The biggest problem with this method is math: percentages of electoral votes would sometimes be decimals. Getting this passed on a nationwide basis would be difficult, so it would have to be passed state by state; this could give parties unfair advantages halfway through (for instance, if California switched to proportional while Texas stayed with winner-take-all).

REMINDER TO FINISH ADDING THE PRIMARY REFORMS TO THE OUTLINE

Day 23: Halloween!

I am making a list of the things I need to know about the presidential campaigns.
Platform requirements (what do they have to make clear about their ideas? Are candidates required to present a plan of action for, say, the first year of office? What documents must be present on their site? Are there requirements to have plans verified for efficacy by experts in the field?)
Also, we learned about slander and laws against it in government and I'm curious to see how political ads are actually legal.

Also looked at the alternate vote system (when you rank candidates by preference). This article talks about pros and cons of using it the UK, but the United States has the additional issues of, well, states, so I need to find a source that discusses its use in the US.

Day 22: Presidential Debates

I am going to look at the debates for 2008 and 1992 (the most recent new president and a random pick from two classmates.)
If I thought candidates sidestepped issues in the gubernatorial debates, the issue is multiplied by ten in the presidential debates. A lot of time is spent blaming the problem on other officials or parties and  the amount of times a question was restated or repeated was really upsetting. The candidates often state similar goals or ideals and then fail to elaborate on how they plan to achieve them. Another common issue is the usage of statements by an opponent (candidate x will say that candidate y said this or supports that when it has nothing to do with actually answering the question).
Also looking up some of the paperwork and requirements a candidate has to fulfill to run for office.


Obama McCain first debate fact check
Biden-Palin fact check
Obama McCain second debate fact check
NPR discusses the debates

Day 21: Gubernatorial Debates

I have obtained the transcripts for the debates between Greg Abbott and Wendy Davis, since I am a resident of Texas.
After I read them, I will read one of the presidential debates as well.
--- Notes ---
Standardized testing: both candidates want less standardized tests. Davis asserts that Abbott wants standardized testing for 4 year olds. Abbott denied this and Davis said that he stated that as part of his education plan on page 21. The plan states that he wants assessments for pre-K and provided three options, one of which was standardized testing. Davis stated that she wants testing as a measure of teacher success to be less high stakes.
Overall (I suppose this happens in every debate) each candidate had moments where he/she avoided the question, was vague about a plan, started an attack on the other candidate, or blamed a problem on something or someone else instead talking about what they would do, which are things that should be avoided in debates. This was most often seen when faced with direct questions, especially during the ethics questions.
I think requiring clear written proposals for every issue is a must for all candidates and each debate should be fact checked by multiple, unbiased sources. Also, each candidate's plan for any issue should be verified for efficacy by experts in the field.
Politifact fact check for the second debate
Houston Chronicle fact check for the second debate

Houston Chronicle fact check for the first debate
(seriously need another one to verify, but first debate analyses with fact checks are scarce...)

I also helped Stephen by doing his survey for thesis.

Organization, More Essays

Today I worked on an outline I am making so I can get a basis for my timeline. This will help me keep things in order because my reading notes are starting to get really long.
I've got some questions about the congressional elections that I will be referring to my mentor. I will be watching debates as soon as I get some time. If I can't watch them it will be faster for me to read transcripts. I will also be checking out the old presidential debates afterwards.

Also worked on more college essays.

Picture Day, College Essays

We took our senior pictures for the yearbook today. I also worked on college essays. I also continued reading the book from last class and took more notes.
I will be looking into the debates and campaigning portion of the election soon because of the congressional elections. I will have a lot of material from the Republican and Democratic parties if I do that in October and November.
Wednesday update: I was in the car and I heard this report about absentee voting on the radio.

Day 18: More research

We received our grades for our presentations (95 for me).
I am taking more notes on this book. Right now I'm in the part where it discusses improvements for voter registration. The reform implementation in some states also cost a lot, so I have to remember to look into costs for each reform.
In order to get more organized I put some additional documents on my Google Drive, including notes on reading material and a list of goals to look back on to evaluate the reforms.
One of the polls used for the book (it asked why people did not vote in 2000 election) is a little old so I need to find a more recent one if there is one available. The problem of access to voting for disabled persons should have decreased in recent years, so it is likely that the poll results would be different now.

Presentation

It's day 3 so I presented today. I was really nervous so it is kind of a blur but I answered my questions so I think it went well. Mr. Correa says we have to send him a copy of our senior surveys so I will do that when I get home.

Presentations Day 2

The presentations continued today. We also filled in ACT score sheets.

Thesis Presentations: Day 1

Our class started presentations today (mine is on Friday) and so I saw what mine should sort of look like and what it should cover. Also I am going to be well-prepared for questions, because it seems that my class asks a lot of them.
There are some concerns about timing, apparently a lot of the presenters were under 3 minutes and I'm not sure how big of a problem that is.
I do have a working presentation right now so it should be fine.
(Looking for more sources that find problems with the NPV compact)
Notes: The NPV does not take into account the fact that each state has different voting processes and requirements.

Reading, Bibliography, Presentations

Notes from why the NPV should be constitutional: while states cannot make treaties or alliances with other states, they can have an interstate compact agreement, as long as it does not interfere with the powers of other/non-participating states. NPV does not encroach on federal powers, although it may interfere with interests. The electors are approved by the state legislature and are not exercising federal powers. The states are not creating a new power for themselves that they did not have individually or disenfranchising voters of non-member states. 

Electoral Choice, Ideological Conflict, and Political Participation notes: The author concludes that ideological polarization of candidates actually lowers voter turnout, challenging an earlier study conducted in the 1950s. However, he concedes that more research needs to be done.

Working on several essays and should submit the Apply Texas apps this week. Submitted the bibliography!

Day 13: Trek post 2

Currently getting sources together for the annotated bibliography and working on app essays.
Waiting to hear back from my potential mentor.
Finished TREK today!

Wednesday update: Found a book and Electoral Choice, Ideological Conflict, and Political
Participation
Talking on the phone is really scary for me but I have a mentor! (She's Miss Alison Whitten, the one Mr. Correa suggested. She is currently a legislative assistant for a government relations firm in Washington, D.C.) I will be receiving some informative links from her later tonight. So excited!

TREK Post 1

We did not have class today because of TREK. I've been working on essays and getting sources together. I did go over an essay today with Mr. Templet.

Saturday update: it's funny how life works. One of my previous links broke and I went looking for the article it cited and instead found a better one! Here it is.
Halfway through with the annotated bibliography.

Sunday update: this.

Bibliography and ACT

We received practice packets for the ACT today. I am getting my sources together and annotating them. I am scheduled to go over an application essay with Mr. Templet on Friday.

A potential mentor (recommended by Mr. Correa, thanks sir) responded. I am going to discuss my thesis with her on Thursday to see if she can help. If it's not her field there's a good chance she knows somebody who could help.

For comparison and ideas: Electoral systems from around the world (Notes: legislative electoral systems were split into three categories (majoritarian, proportional, and mixed). I was interested to see that the idea of ranking candidates was used in some countries, since this was been suggested for use in the United States at an MIT event.)

Reforming the nomination process (Notes: The panel concluded that the primaries and caucuses should start later than they did in 2008; the earlier they start, the more they favor candidates with better funding. It was also proposed that the states which hold the primaries and caucuses first rotate, ending Iowa and New Hampshire's influential status. Having small states hold the primaries/caucuses first would allow the larger states to get more information about candidates through the media. the main goals of the nomination process were also stated: it should elect quality candidates, not the most well-known or best financed, the earlier voting states should provide information to the later states, there should be maximum participating/voter turnout, and the states should have equal power over the process).

Day 10: Presentations, Bibliography, etc.

Spent some time reading the documents associated with the annotated bibliography assignment (due October 3rd before school) and the first set of thesis presentations (mine is October 10th).

Getting together some sources:
I tried to look at this book but the internet said it was blocked or something.

The polarizing effect of presidential debates

A list of some alternatives to the electoral college
MIT discusses alternatives to the electoral college

Reforming the presidential nomination system (note: this was before the 2012 elections; check to see what changes were implemented first)

During our thesis presentation we are supposed to explain why our projects are important so I am finding some statistics for that:
Pew Research Center polls regarding the election in 2012
(Notes: Page 2, negative campaigning)
Media in 2012 (Republicans)
(Personal lives of the candidate were consistently covered more than policy issues, and public record)
Abolishing the electoral college and replacing it with the popular vote.

Day 9: Prezi and Mentors

I investigated how Prezi works. The format is learn able and there is a forum for questions in case I run into formatting trouble. There is also a timeline template. I will need to modify it, of course.

Mr. Correa has suggested a mentor (an alum's parent, yay!) who should be contacted for government related theses, so I will see if she would be willing to mentor me.

Getting my college and scholarship essays more organized on Google Drive (putting them in folders and such) and I also have my two teacher recommenders and my employer (Dr. Stuart Ravnik, STARS program).

Ms. Johnson just gave me my transcripts so that's on track.

More articles to read for the timeline (I have the general process down, but the specifics are a little fuzzy. Also I need to get more into the campaign process.):
Delegate details
A timeline of the 2012 election (it starts in 2009!)
The government's timeline for the 2012 election
2008 election timeline for comparison

Note to myself to study the debate process and its criticisms when looking at the campaigning process.

(In other news, Mr. Satarino subbed, Ruby received her driver's license, and David gave us all fruit snacks).

Update: waiting for mentor response, applied for another scholarship, finishing Apply Texas essays, scheduled to meet with Mr. Templet again this Friday.

Day 8: Reading, Badges, College

I am thinking about how to format the timeline. A paper would probably not be efficient; I want to investigate every stage of the election, look at proposed improvements, and then study the pros and cons of each improvement as well as their constitutionality. I feel like a Prezi, from what I've seen of them, might be okay, provided I manage to counteract the amount of text there will be. So today I will look at how it works.


How the caucuses work
(Notes: Iowa holds its caucus first, 19 states hold caucuses, the opinion seems to be that the voter turnout is not high except in Iowa, most Republican caucuses are winner-take-all, Democrats assign delegates based on the percent of the vote each  there is this thing called a mixed-caucus system, after the caucus there is usually another stage before the delegates are sent to the national convention)

Overall thought: A lot of the election system seems to be this tug-of-war between wanting voters' input but trying to avoid "tyranny of the majority" or results influenced by the uneducated masses.
That makes the overall question how do we make sure the presidential candidates and the choice of the president reflect the will of the people while avoiding the election of someone who looks good but is ineffective.

I did a freak out about college apps, just because the recommendation process is becoming a hurdle. I have all the paperwork filled out but I couldn't print it all out multiple times to give to recommenders so I emailed them, which I hope is okay.

I am also looking at ways people have tried to reform caucus procedures, like Count My Vote in Utah.

Update: Still freaking about college and scholarship apps. There's just a lot of paperwork and due dates and it's kind of overwhelming. I'll figure it out, I think.

Day 7: TAG Forum

We didn't have class today because of forum. However, I did go over an application essay with Mr. Templet this morning and I am filling out the survey for teacher recs. Also will be doing more college stuff over the weekend. I also requested transcripts today.

Sunday update: Edited the app essay, did the short answer questions for UT, working on two other app essays, and I have one question left on the survey. Trying to clear this college stuff so I can really focus on thesis...

Day 6: Survey, Resume, Thesis

We are supposed to fill out a survey, but some of the info I need for it is at home and you can't save your progress, so I think filling it out at home will be in my best interests.

I also updated my resume.

After reading more articles I am getting more knowledgeable about the primary/caucus stage. The most common issue I am seeing with the primaries is that they are held at different times, so the states that vote early have more influence and candidates that are better known/ have better funding get a sort of head start. Some proposed solution include having all the primaries at the same time, and dividing the country into four regions which vote successively.

I will be looking into the pros and cons and the constitutionality of each proposed solution.

Day 5: Making the Timeline

Continued reading articles. Also started constructing the timeline (with this basic info on the election process). I am taking government this year so it turns out I can read the constitution for two classes this year. Success!

Timeline:
The states vote for their delegates in primaries or caucuses.
The delegates go to their party's convention and vote for the presidential candidate.
Generally, the winning presidential candidate selects his/her VP.
The voters participate in the general election, voting for their electors.
The electors vote in the electoral college (538 votes). If it ties, the House chooses the president, and the Senate chooses the VP.

Problems with the process:
Caucus: (will be getting details out of some articles: problems(WP), pros and cons)
Primaries: (NYT editorial)
Electoral college: "misfires," winner-take-all (remember that Maine and Nebraska are the only states who use the district system), candidates focus on swing states, often completely neglecting over half the states in favor of states that can win them the election.
House contingency procedure: one-state-one-vote, giving a lot of power to small states.

Things to investigate:
Utah's changes to the caucus.
Caucuses vs. Primaries

Day 4: Ms. Marberry Visit

Ms. Marberry talked to us about college. This reminded me that I need to double check my scholarship deadlines. Also, I have updated my resume but I need to change the format; it is not being very compatible with Google Drive. I am finishing my Common App essay and will probably need to revise it with a teacher. I will probably be working on college apps all weekend so that I can really focus on my thesis next week.

I hope I am on track with college apps and it looks like I am, but you never know with these things...

(Also I keep forgetting my English book so I'm putting it here: book)

Day 3: Much Reading

Thesis: reading a lot of articles today
The Compact Clause and the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact
(raises questions about the compact's constitutionality).
Issues with the Electoral college
(The most popular problem I'm seeing is the ability of a candidate to lose the popular vote but win the electoral vote and thus win the election, candidates focusing on only swing states and continuing that focus through the presidency in order to win reelection. Also, as in other articles, I am seeing opposition to the "winner take all" rule used to assign electoral votes. The use of this system is prevalent because it gives the state maximum power in the electoral college).
Pluses and minuses of the national popular vote interstate compact
(Concludes that NPV would diminish the electoral college, even out media coverage disparity between swing states and spectator states, eliminate the use of the House contingency procedure, and ameliorate sectionalism. However, the downsides are increased campaign spending, the weakening of the two-party system, and the introduction of structural imbalances in the election system. The structure of the NPV allows member states to withdraw at any time. Also there are issues with constitutionality that have not been resolved).

Some more structural stuff:
I think I will have to go through each stage of the election and look at issues with them, since it appears that the academic community concedes that there are problems with the caucuses and electoral college. I will have to address these in addition to my problems with election platform integrity. Because of all this, I am thinking that my final product might be a timeline of my improvised election process.

College:
My next scholarship app is due at the end of September so I finally have more time for college essays. I am brainstorming ideas for the Common App essay and Topic C for Apply Texas. Also, I created an account on Cappex in addition to my existing Fastweb account and will be looking for more college and scholarship info through there.

Day 2

Thesis:
I'm having trouble coming up with a thesis that would keep me occupied and interested for a whole year. However, I was able to read over some documents pertaining to the content and judging requirements of my thesis presentation so hopefully this will give me more of an idea about what my project should contain. Since I have interests in many fields I will be writing ideas here as I think of them so I will be able to select my final project from a list. Today the only idea that came to mind was election reform, probably because of a discussion we had in government class. Most election reform revolves around campaign funding, but I am thinking of a reform to the process, so that candidates are forced to make their positions on issues clear, not change said positions, and create a plan of action to deal with the nation's problems. Basically, I want to devise an election process that results in presidents being chosen because they have actually proven that they can solve problems, not because of rhetoric, money, and "image."

Some links I will use to look into my topic:
Electoral system issues and alternatives.
President Obama's election platform
General election process info

If any more ideas present themselves over the weekend I will add them.

College:
I am looking at more colleges to add to my list. I am still working on both application and scholarship essays for colleges and I need to send out recommendation requests soon. My current scholarship essay is due September 1st, so I am going to be making final edits and sending it this weekend.

Day 1

Thesis topic:
I'm debating whether or not to do a project that explores the legality of Israeli settlements or something more science-related because of my resources at UT Southwestern.


College apps:
I am working through Apply Texas and Common App. I have also submitted a scholarship essay and am working on another one. I need more colleges to add to my list, since I really only have two for sure...