{"id":1059,"date":"2020-01-08T12:00:18","date_gmt":"2020-01-08T17:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/connect.apsanet.org\/raisethevote\/?p=1059"},"modified":"2020-01-08T11:02:35","modified_gmt":"2020-01-08T16:02:35","slug":"boots-on-the-ground-in-new-hampshire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/connect.apsanet.org\/raisethevote\/2020\/01\/08\/boots-on-the-ground-in-new-hampshire\/","title":{"rendered":"Boots on the Ground in New Hampshire"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nina Kasniunas,<\/strong> Associate Professor at Goucher College, is a guest contributor for the RAISE the Vote Campaign<\/a>. The views expressed in the posts and articles featured in the RAISE the Vote campaign are those of the authors and contributors alone and do not represent the views of APSA.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"For many of us who like politics, this is the best time of the four-year election cycle.\u00a0 We are weeks away from the first caucus and primary election.\u00a0 There is a large field of candidates, even though we have lost a few, and there is much anticipation about who the next Democratic presidential candidate will be and whether they will ultimately be the victor.\u00a0 The current interest in election processes and the timing of the upcoming primaries led to the development of a new course idea: why not create a January term course where I bring a small group of students to New Hampshire to learn about presidential primary politics on the ground?<\/p>\n

I frequently create simulation activities, team-based applied learning activities, and even re-enactments of Supreme Court oral arguments as an entry-point to thinking about how cases are decided.\u00a0 But I have found that the benefits of experiential learning yield the same as active learning and then some.\u00a0 Thus, I might pair an active learning re-enactment of Supreme Court oral arguments with a field trip to hear oral arguments.\u00a0 Similarly, when I teach my Elections course, I build in a requirement that students need to complete 20-40 hours of campaign work.\u00a0 The course is always popular with political science and non-political science students alike.\u00a0 Creating this new special topics course, Presidential Primary Politics in New Hampshire<\/em>, then, would be an extension of the types of learning experiences my students have come to expect and although the course is new, it is not completely unfamiliar territory.<\/p>\n

Why not create a January term course where I bring a small group of students to New Hampshire to learn about presidential primary politics on the ground?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The plan for the J-term course is this: take two vans full of students to Manchester, New Hampshire[1]<\/a> for two and a half weeks in January.\u00a0 Every weekday for 75 minutes, students have a seminar-style class with me.\u00a0 Each student is also required to work 20 hours\/week on a campaign of their own choosing although I help coordinate with the campaigns.\u00a0 I also planned meetings with professionals whose work intersects with presidential primaries.\u00a0 For example, we are meeting with two NPR journalists who produced a podcast on the New Hampshire primary called Stranglehold.<\/em>\u00a0 We are on every campaign\u2019s contact list and are consistently receiving emails and texts about the next candidate event in the first primary state.<\/p>\n

The students have daily reading and podcast assignments, daily writing assignments and will be leading most of the course discussions[2]<\/a>.\u00a0 At the end of the course they collectively have to produce a presidential candidate guide that will be shared with the rest of our campus community when the spring semester (and the primary season) officially gets underway.\u00a0 The students have the autonomy to decide the format of the candidate guide; it can be a pamphlet, a website, a series of podcasts, or whatever they decide.\u00a0 I also help students organize our college\u2019s voter mobilization efforts each election cycle, and the student-created guide on issues important to their peers will be a helpful resource.<\/p>\n

Not only is tolerance a keystone of democracy and an essential component to cultivating civic engagement, but students\u2019 intellectual growth is limited when their viewpoints are not challenged.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I anticipate many positive outcomes for the students.\u00a0 First, they will see campaign organizing firsthand, will gain experience canvassing and learn how to navigate and who to coordinate with if they want to get involved with a campaign.\u00a0 We shouldn\u2019t take for granted that students know how<\/em> to get engaged if they have the motivation.\u00a0 Second, from an academic perspective, students will learn the implications of the McGovern-Fraser reforms (and subsequent reforms in both parties) on campaign strategy.\u00a0 There are many strategic considerations made that are never discussed in the media or in academic publications.\u00a0 Third, the students will have many opportunities to talk with voters in New Hampshire who likely share different perspectives than them.\u00a0 Too frequently at my college, classrooms lack diversity of viewpoint.\u00a0 Not only is tolerance a keystone of democracy and an essential component to cultivating civic engagement, but students\u2019 intellectual growth is limited when their viewpoints are not challenged. Fourth, my students will be working with and meeting young campaign staff who, not long ago, were also college students.\u00a0 Learning from campaign staff members about how they got to where they are and being able to build out a professional network is very valuable.\u00a0 The students will become more resilient both because of the nature of trips like these and having to roll with the punches and unanticipated challenges, but also because they will be braving the cold New Hampshire weather.\u00a0 Lastly, this trip will add another layer of democratic engagement to students\u2019 development as fully engaged members of their communities.<\/p>\n

We are a week away from our departure as I write this blogpost.\u00a0 I have spent a bit of time connecting with campaign organizers and state directors.\u00a0 As one might imagine, the well- financed campaigns are much more organized and have an impressive team of staff ready to welcome any and all campaign volunteers \u2013 college classes like us and groups of activists from other states. \u00a0I was even told of a group traveling from the Netherlands!\u00a0 Other campaigns are not as organized but will surely benefit from some help on the ground to knock on doors and make phone calls.\u00a0 There is no doubt in my mind this will be a tremendous learning experience for my students.\u00a0 If you want to know how it goes \u2013 check back next month where I\u2019ll write a follow-up blog post.<\/p>\n

\n

Nina Kasniunas is an Associate Professor in Political Science at Goucher College.\u00a0\u00a0She regularly teaches courses in American politics including: The American Political System; Congressional Politics; Presidential Politics; Organized Advocacy; The Election 2020; and Education Policy. Dr. Kasniunas\u2019 research interests center on organized interests within the American political system.\u00a0 She has written on the campaign strategies of organized interests, using re-enactment of Supreme Court oral argument in the classroom, gay rights, and how the Bush administration used the courts to advance religion.\u00a0 Democratic engagement is a core concern for Professor Kasniunas; she leads a range of efforts on and off campus to engage students.\u00a0 Her efforts in improving student voter engagement on campus led to her receiving the faculty standout award from the ALL In Democracy Challenge.<\/em><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> I chose Manchester because an older USA Today article cited Manchester, New Hampshire as the most visited city by presidential candidates in the United States.\u00a0 Also, I have at least one friend who lives there and is active in the political community; he works at Bill Shaheen\u2019s lawfirm.\u00a0 Bill Shaheen was the state director for Jimmy Carter\u2019s campaign in 1976, the campaign that established for every candidate since how to navigate the primary elections in the post-Fraser-McGovern era.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> I am setting up a discussion fish-bowl for 30 minutes in each seminar where four students will engage in a discussion of the readings for 15 minutes and then after 15 minutes other students can \u201ctap into\u201d the fishbowl and replace one of the discussants if they want to contribute.\u00a0 There is a point system setup and other roles to be played such as note-taker and discussion synthesizer\/summarizer.<\/p>\n

Join the Campaign<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n