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Teaching Political Parties

Shmoop's least favorite theme party.

  • Activities: 5
  • Quiz Questions: 41

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You can probably count on one hand the number of students who would turn down an invitation to a party. But a political party? That's different. While our only suggestion for party décor is a red, white, and blue color scheme, we go quite a bit deeper on the academic end of things.

In this guide you will find

  • lessons analyzing political party stereotypes.
  • an activity interpreting the messages of political cartoons.
  • tons of modern resources from PBS to NPR to the WSJ and other publications not defined by their initials…because people will never stop arguing about political parties. Ever.

We'll be sure to keep it bipartisan so no one ends up throwing drinks on anyone else at this party.

What's Inside Shmoop's Civics Teaching Guides

Shmoop is a labor of love from folks who love to teach. Our teaching guides will help you supplement in-classroom learning with fun, engaging, and relatable learning materials that bring civics to life.

Inside each guide you'll find quizzes, activity ideas, discussion questions, and more—all written by experts and designed to save you time. Here are the deets on what you get with your teaching guide:

  • 4-10 Common Core-aligned activities (including quotation, image, and document analysis) to complete in class with your students, with detailed instructions for you and your students. 
  • Discussion and essay questions for all levels of students.
  • Reading quizzes to be sure students are looking at the material through various lenses.
  • Resources to help make the topic feel more relevant to your 21st-century students.
  • A note from Shmoop's teachers to you, telling you what to expect from teaching the topic and how you can overcome the hurdles.

Want more help teaching Teaching Political Parties?

Check out all the different parts of our corresponding learning guide.



Instructions for You

Objective: Barack Obama’s 2008 election suggested to some a realignment of the core constituencies of the two political parties. In this exercise your students will first analyze exit polling data from the 2008 election and answer questions about the demographics of voters drawn to each party. 

After discussing the 2008 exit polls and the potential "realignment" effect, they will examine similar data from the 2016 election. 

Finally, they'll compare both sets of data to determine where the biggest changes in party demographics seems to have occurred and whether or not there has been another realignment, this time in the Republicans' favor. 

Length of Lesson: One class period

Materials Needed:

Step One: First, read through Shmoop's 2008 Election page with your students and discuss what is meant by a "realignment" election.

Step Two: Now have students take a look at the New York Times 2008 Exit Poll data and have them respond—on paper, individually or in groups—to the following questions.  

  1. With what types/groups of voters does the Democratic Party enjoy significant advantages?
  2. Which of these types/groups might be the “softest” in their support for the Democratic Party?
  3. If you were Democratic strategist, what problems would you foresee with the “Obama Coalition?”
  4. What information might suggest to you that the Democratic Party will enjoy continued electoral success in the future?

Step Three: After they have answered the questions from Step Two, lead a discussion on the stability of the “Obama Coalition” and whether or not there were any indicators at the time of a Republican electoral recovery in the near future. 

In doing so, you can discuss the questions below. 

  1. With what types/groups of voters did the Republican Party enjoy significant advantages in 2008?
  2. Which of these types/groups might be the “softest” in their support for the Republican Party?
  3. If you were a Republican strategist, what would worry you about the coalition of voters that supported the McCain/Palin ticket in 2008?
  4. With what types/groups of voters must the Republicans make gains if it is to reverse the 2008 electoral results?
  5. With which of these types/groups does this seem most and least likely? Explain.

Step Four: So now we know that the Republicans did, in fact, have electoral success in 2016. It was a very unusual election cycle to say the least, but the Republicans came out on top. The question is: why? 

Have your students examine the New York Times 2016 Exit Poll data. They should compare this data to the data from 2008 and try to pinpoint any large shifts or major changes that contributed to the Republican victory. 

 As you discuss the demographics where the biggest changes seem to have occurred, you should also discuss whether or not there has been another realignment, this time in the Republicans' favor. 

Finally, the 2016 data includes many more questions than the 2008 data did. Ask students what they think about some of these additional questions, why they think they were added, and how helpful they are in understanding voters' motivations. 

(Lesson aligned with CA 12th grade American government standards 12.6.1, 12.6.6)

TEKS Standards: §113.41. United States History Studies Since 1877 b1, b2, c11E, c24A

Instructions for Your Students

Yes we can... 

... make America great again? 

In case you didn't notice, there was a bit of a shift across the country between 2008 and 2016. 

In 2008, after Barack Obama won the presidency, many analysts believed that he had forged a new coalition of voters and that the Democrats were likely to enjoy electoral success for the next several years.

Flash forward to 2016. So... what happened? Did Trump's election mark the end of the "several years of electoral success" for Democrats? Are Republicans now the party that has forged a new coalition of voters? 

Today, you are going to analyze some polling data and try to make some sense of what happened in 2008, and what happened between 2008 and 2016. 

Get your stats hat on, and let's go. 

Step One: First, you need to get a handle on the 2008 election. Read Shmoop's 2008 Election page with your teacher and classmates and discuss what is meant by a "realignment" election.

Step Two: Now take a look at the New York Times 2008 Exit Poll data and respond—on paper, individually or in groups (ask your teacher which)—to the following questions.  

  1. With what types/groups of voters does the Democratic Party enjoy significant advantages?
  2. Which of these types/groups might be the “softest” in their support for the Democratic Party?
  3. If you were Democratic strategist, what problems would you foresee with the “Obama Coalition?”
  4. What information might suggest to you that the Democratic Party will enjoy continued electoral success in the future?

Step Three: After you've answered the questions from Step Two, discuss the stability of the “Obama Coalition” and whether or not there were any indicators at the time of a Republican electoral recovery in the near future. 

You can use the questions below as a guide. 

  1. With what types/groups of voters did the Republican Party enjoy significant advantages in 2008?
  2. Which of these types/groups might be the “softest” in their support for the Republican Party?
  3. If you were a Republican strategist, what would worry you about the coalition of voters that supported the McCain/Palin ticket in 2008?
  4. With what types/groups of voters must the Republicans make gains if it is to reverse the 2008 electoral results?
  5. With which of these types/groups does this seem most and least likely? Explain.

Step Four: So now we know that the Republicans did, in fact, have electoral success in 2016. It was a very unusual election cycle to say the least, but the Republicans came out on top. The question is: why? 

Examine the New York Times 2016 Exit Poll data. Compare this data to the data from 2008 and try to pinpoint any large shifts or major changes that contributed to the Republican victory. 

As you talk with your teacher and classmates about the demographics where the biggest changes seem to have occurred, you should also discuss whether or not there has been another realignment, this time in the Republicans' favor. 

Finally, the 2016 data includes many more questions than the 2008 data did. What do you think about these additional questions? Why do you think they were added, and how helpful they are in understanding voters' motivations?