Social Studies Lab

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Free & Fair & Fresh Elections

We hear a lot about free and fair elections, but what about fresh? And just how free and fair are U.S. elections compared to the rest of the world?

FREEDOM HOUSE

  1. How accurate was your prediction?

  2. What is the most surprising element of this electoral freedom map?

  3. What elements are necessary to call an election free and fair?

  4. What is the big story this map tells?

  5. What geographic patterns in electoral freedom do you see?

  6. Why do you think those patterns exist?

  7. Is this a happy map?

  8. What do you think this map would have looked like 200 years ago?

  9. What do you think this map will look like in 20 years?

  10. According to this map, what is the story of US electoral freedom?

  11. What is the least free and fair aspect of U.S. elections?

  12. Why do you think that Americans are willing to have elections that while mostly free and fair, are less so than other countries like Chile, Uruguay, Canada, Iceland, India, New Zealand, Tunisia, Belize, Portugal, Costa Rica, and South Africa?

  13. When people talk about the 2016 presidential election being "rigged," what specific aspects of the US electoral system are they referring to?

  14. There is a very wide gap in voters' confidence* (see bonus maps below) in the openness and fairness of elections between Clinton and Trump supporters. Why do you think that is?

  15. If you lived in a country where elections were not free and fair do you think you would know it?

  16. What do you think would happen in China if all of a sudden they had completely free and fair elections?

  17. If you knew elections were not free and fair would there be anything you could do about it?


Learning Extension

Read the entire Freedom House 2016 Report of Electoral Freedom or check out this condensed Pew Research Center report on electoral freedom.


Action Extension

In its most recent report, Freedom House gave the U.S. electoral process 11 out of 12 possible points on its “electoral process” scale – the same rating the nation has had since 2007 (when its score was raised from a 10). Share the Freedom House Map of Electoral Freedom on social media or with your social studies class.


Bonus Maps

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

PEW RESEARCH CENTER