1. P review words L ist ideas A ssign order N ote ideas in complete sentences P urpose A udience T opic H ook Describe Explain Tell a story Persuade This is about explaining : How to do something What something is about Why something is important S tate conclusion 4E

2. P review words L ist ideas A ssign order N ote ideas in complete sentences P urpose A udience T opic H ook Describe Explain Tell a story Persuade This is about explaining : How to do something What something is about Why something is important S tate conclusion 4E RepublicansDemocratsIndependents x Differences between political parties People interested in elections Explaining political parties Were you confused in the last election? x Conservative – want to maintain rules & laws to protect traditional values Progressive – want to change society to make it more open and equal Support gov. programs designed to help people in need, more taxes needed Believe gov. entitlement programs don’t really help, but actually hurt Believe regulations are needed to protect citizens from abusive businesses Believe regulations impair business, hurt the economy, so less jobs, less taxes More white, professional, business-oriented, men, military, religious More minorities, blue-collar workers, women, teachers, service-oriented Tend to be ultra- conservative or ultra- progressive – Vast majority are white, college educated Want to radically reform government Some want to nearly eliminate all gov.; others want socialism conservative taxes entitlements radicals minorities values Gov. regulations progressive Regardless of whether you lean toward the Republican, Democrat, or Independent side, it’s important to be informed and participate in the political process. 213 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

3. Political Parties The last election was pretty confusing. The candidates were so busy slinging mud at each other that it was really hard to tell what their positions really were. What is the difference between Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, anyway? To help voters who may still be confused, I’ll explain a little about these political parties. First of all, they are not really parties like birthday parties, but rather are organizations or groups of people who share beliefs about what the government should be doing. Members of the Democratic Party tend to include a wide range of different types of people, including minorities, blue-collar workers, women, teachers, and service-oriented people. These people tend to be “progressive.” This means they want more progress in society. They want to change society to make it more open and equal. Democrats tend to support government programs designed to help people in need, and they are willing to have more taxes to pay for these programs. They tend to believe that strong government laws and regulations are needed to protect people of abusive business practices, protect the environment, animals, and so forth. Many different types of people support the Republican Party, but they tend to be white, professional, business-oriented, male, military, and religious. Republicans tend to be conservative, which means they want to maintain rules and laws to protect traditional values. They usually don’t support government. entitlement programs. They think these programs don’t really help, but actually hurt the economy because they require so much tax money to pay for. Many Republican believe many government regulations impair business, hurt the economy, and this results in less jobs. They want a “free-market economy” which basically means they don’t want to government to interfere too much with what business want to do. Independents tend to support politicians they like, regardless of what political party they belong to. Most independents are well educated white citizens. Some are ultro-conservative and some are ultra-progressive. Some want to radically reform government, and some want to eliminate it almost completely. Others want a more socialistic government. Here, the government regulates almost every aspect of life. Regardless of whether you lean toward the Republican, Democrat, or Independent side, it’s important to be informed and participate in the political process.