SUMMARY

How the parties select their candidates is a major factor in the increasing partisanship we've seen in recent years. Recently, Alaska has been trying something different. It's already showing results but facing some resistance. Judy Woodruff traveled there for her ongoing series about divisions in the country, America at a Crossroads.

View the transcript of the story.

News alternative: Check out recent segments from the NewsHour, and choose the story you’re most interested in watching. You can make a Google doc copy of discussion questions that work for any of the stories here.

WARM-UP QUESTIONS

1. What state is featured in the video?
2. Who is Mary Peltola?
3. How is Alaska's primary system unique?
4. When did Alaska's new primary system go into effect?
5. Why does Nick Troiano say that "8 percent of voters [are] electing 83 percent of our leaders"?

FOCUS QUESTIONS

In the video, some argue that open primaries help bring more voters into the electoral process and moderate partisan politics. However, von Spakovsky says that only the members of the Democratic and Republican parties should have a say in their respective representatives. Who do you find more convincing? Do you think open primaries are a good reform to the electoral system?

Media literacy: The NewsHour video starts with an interview with David Nicolai, who talked about how his family experienced Peltola's historic election to Congress. How do personal stories such as Nicolai's impact your thoughts on the electoral reforms, if at all?

Alternative: See, Think, Wonder: What did you notice? What did the story make you think? What would you want to learn more about?

FOR MORE

What students can do: Take a look at this explainer to learn more about ranked-choice voting.

1. Do you think our current electoral system needs reform? What do you think are the advantages and challenges of ranked-choice voting?
2. What resources could you use to learn more about research and campaigns about electoral reforms? For example, check out https://fairvote.org/.

This post was written by Stacey Zhang, a NewsHour Classroom intern and student at Amherst College. It was edited by NewsHour Classroom's Luke Gerwe.

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