The Democratic Process

A democracy is government by the people. In the Gettysburg Address, President Abraham Lincoln described the U.S. government as one designed to be "of the people, by the people, for the people."

Citizens of democratic republics like ours choose their leaders through a system of representation in periodic free elections. In the United States, anyone who is eligible can vote for president in elections held every four years.

The right to vote, also known as suffrage, is one of the most basic and important rights U.S. citizens have and one of the best ways to express an opinion on how the nation is to be run. The 15th, 19th, 24th and 26th Amendments to the Constitution expands this right. Today, it does not depend on the color of your skin, gender or how much money you have. Thousands of Americans have fought and died for this essential freedom. Many people believe that voting is not just a right, but also a civic duty.

People who run for office are called candidates. They must convince voters that they are better than any other candidate who wants the job. Most candidates identify with the platform of their political party. Yet unlike parliamentary systems in countries such as Great Britain and Australia, candidates frequently take stands on policies that are at odds with their party to win support from voters who might see the issues differently from the party.

The U.S. Constitution set three qualifications for anyone considering the presidency: 1) you must be a natural born citizen of the United States; 2) be at least 35 years old, and 3) be a resident of the country for 14 years.

Other factors are not spelled out so clearly, but are just as important. You should have an appealing message, a single-minded determination, and access to plenty of money to run a campaign. A campaign is both the process you go through to get elected as well as the organization that manages your race.

In this game, you will learn about campaigning. You will come to understand how we elect one person to the presidency of the United States - a job that some consider the most powerful on earth.

Getting Into the Race

If you meet the constitutional requirements needed to run for president, you are ready to start organizing your campaign. You will need a staff, offices, volunteers, equipment and probably a number of consultants to help create advertisements, campaign slogans, publicity, an internet presence and to advise you on legal issues. And you will need to take stands on issues of foreign policy, taxes, the environment, and just about everything else.

Your own life can become an issue too, so be prepared for intense examinations of yourself, your family and even close friends. Today's round-the-clock access to news means candidates do not have much privacy. Imagine having the most embarrassing incident of your life splashed across TV, the Internet and newspapers. And expect that your opponents will try to take advantage of that one error.

If you can handle that kind of scrutiny, you are ready to run for president.

Declaring Candidacy

The first step many presidential hopefuls take before they seek the White House is forming an exploratory campaign to see whether they have a good chance of winning. This "testing of the waters" helps them determine if they can raise enough money to run a strong race and get an idea of how enthusiastic voters, political party members and the media are about them as candidates.

Those who decide to go ahead must make a formal declaration of their candidacy. Once this happens, candidates must make public the names of anyone who contributes $200 or more. Federal law allows a person to give up to $2,300. To learn more, go to http://www.fec.gov/info/compliance.shtml. To see Selected Presidential Reports for the 2007 October Quarterly, go to http://query.nictusa.com/pres/2007/Q3/.

Candidates who are not well known usually announce they are running long before the election so they have time to let people learn more about them and build up what is called "name recognition."

As the process gets going, potential voters - and donors - pay more attention to the candidates' ideas and positions on the issues. To get the ideas across, candidates participate in debates that the media covers closely. These events should be entered with caution and a lot of preparation because a misstep can really harm a campaign. That happened in the first nationally-televised debate in 1960, when Vice President Richard Nixon's ashen, sweaty appearance stood in stark contrast to a fit-looking, debonair Senator John F. Kennedy.

In addition to winning over voters and donors and coming across well in the public eye, candidates must woo rank-and-file members of their political parties to get nominated. These individuals can provide endorsements, help candidates get access to crucial donors and increase voter turnout.