Caucus 101: Mock Caucus Simulation

Length of class: 60-90 minutes

Objective: Students will be able to describe how the caucus process works to choose the presidential nominee
for both the Republican and Democratic Party.

Additional objectives:
-Students will be able to identify the steps in the caucus process
-Students will be able to evaluate the effectiveness of the caucus process
Standards:
Iowa Core Inquiry Anchor Standards
Taking Informed Action
SS.9-12.12. Apply a range of deliberative and democratic strategies and procedures to make decisions and take
action in their classrooms, schools, and out-of-school contexts.

9-12 Civics and Government Core Standards

Analyze Civic and Political Institutions
SS.Gov.9-12.14. Analyze the role of citizens in the U.S. political system, with attention to the definition of who
is a citizen, expansion of the definition over time, and changes in participation over time. (21 st century skills)
Iowa History
SS.Gov.9-12.28. Identify local and state issues in Iowa and evaluate formal or informal courses of action used
to affect policy.

Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies 6-12

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
RH.11-12.9. Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent
understanding of an idea or event noting discrepancies among sources.

Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects 6-12
Research to Build and Present Knowledge
WHST.11-12.9. Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Assessment: NONE
Materials Needed: White board and “Who Do You Support” worksheet
Lesson Plans:

Mock Caucus Simulation Procedures

Every activity up to this point has been preparing students for this experience. Thus, there are not A, B, and C
options for this simulation. We highly recommend that all students and classes follow the directions in these
procedures as they are written. If modifications for time need to be made please simply shorten the length of
time and do not skip any of the steps below because the following simulation will help to prepare students for
the real caucus once they reach voting age. Below you will find the procedures for both the Democrat and
Republican caucuses.
Warm-up (10 minutes)
1. On a slip of paper have students write down their favorite fruit from the following choices; Apples,
Bananas, Grapes, or Oranges (you can add more choices if you would like, or limit them to speed up the
process).
2. Have students pass in their slip of paper and tally the results on the board to determine the percentage of
students that chose each fruit.
 3. Declare the winner of the Republican Fruit Caucus to be the fruit which received the highest percentage
of votes.
4. Designate a corner of the room for each fruit. Then, instruct students to move to the corner of the room
which contains their fruit preference.
5. Once all students have moved to their preferred fruit’s corner, count the number of students in each
group. Display the results on the board (they should be the same as the results from the Republican
Fruit Caucus). Determine the percentage of the class that chose each fruit.
6. Declare that all fruits that do not contain at least 15% of the class population are considered inviable
candidates. Then, instruct students with these fruit preferences that they need to either choose a new
fruit, combine with another non-viable fruit to create a quorum, or abstain from voting by sitting in their
seats. Instruct the viable fruit groups that they should use the next 2 minutes to persuade individuals
from the non-viable fruits to join their group.
7. Once all of the students from the non-viable fruit groups have chosen a new fruit, or chosen to abstain,
count the number of students in each group to determine the percentage of students that chose that fruit.
Display these numbers on the board.
8. Assuming that your class will receive 4 delegates to the “Democrat school-wide favorite fruit caucus”,
divide up the 4 delegate seats proportionally among the classes’ favorite fruits. For instance, if Apples
received 25% of the votes, they should receive 1 delegate. Have students choose a representative to be
the delegate which will represent the class at the “Democrat School Wide Favorite Fruit Caucus”
9. Lastly, explain to students that the caucus that they are about to participate in will operate very similarly
to the activity they just did, but instead of choosing their favorite fruit they will be selecting their
favorite presidential candidates from both the Republican and Democratic Parties.

Simulation: Republican Caucus (15 minutes)

1. Have students use their “Who Do You Support” worksheet given to them for homework from last class
to determine which Republican candidate they support the most.
2. Instruct students to write down the name of the Republican candidate that they support the most onto a
small sheet of paper and hand it to the front of the room.
3. Tabulate the number of votes for each candidate and write them down on the board
4. Have students determine the percentage that each candidate received and write it down on the board
5. Take a minute to remind students that the process does not end at this precinct level. Remind them that
from here delegates from the precinct are chosen to represent their precinct at the county level. Once
the county has held its caucus, delegates are chosen to represent the county at the district level. This
process repeats itself at the district level where each district is granted 3 representatives to represent the
district at the Iowa Republican Convention. Lastly, 23 delegates are chosen by the Republican Party to
attend the National Convention. Therefore, Iowa receives 41 total delegates. 18 delegates are chosen
by the districts (3 from each district) and 23 are chosen by the Iowa Republican Party. These delegates
will attend the Republican National Convention, where the Republican presidential nominee is chosen,
and will usually vote in accordance with the wishes of the state, however there is no law forcing them to
vote in this way.
6. Assume that the state of Iowa percentages is identical to the percentages for your class and
proportionally divide the 41 delegate seats between the candidates. For instance, if candidate A
received 33% of the votes then they should be granted 14 delegates whereas if candidate B received
50% of the votes then they should be granted 21 delegates.

Simulation Democrat Caucus (30 minutes)

1. Have students use their “Who Do You Support” worksheet given to them for homework from last class
 to determine which Democratic candidate they support the most.
2. Designate a corner of the room for each Democratic candidate. Then, instruct students to move to the
corner of the room which contains their candidate preference. If a student is undecided please have
those students move to the center of the room.
3. Within their chosen candidate groups have students develop a 2-minute persuasive speech to influence
the undecided voters to choose their preferred candidate. The group should also choose a spokesperson
to deliver the two-minute address to the class.
4. Give each candidate group a maximum of 2 minutes to deliver their speech to persuade the undecided
voters. If during this time the undecided voters, or voters from other candidate groups, would like to
change groups please allow them to move freely to another candidate’s corner.
5. After all groups have addressed the class, and all students have chosen a candidate please count the
number of supporters for each candidate and post these numbers on the board.
6. Then, have students determine the percentage of the class that each candidate has received.
7. Once percentages have been determined for each candidate identify any candidates who have less that
the 15% needed to be considered a viable candidate. Declare these candidates not viable and instruct
students in these candidate groups to move to the center of the room.
8. Students who voted for a non-viable candidate now have 3 options. They can choose a viable candidate
to support, they can combine with another non-viable candidate group to create a quorum, or they can
abstain from voting by sitting in their seats.
9. Each viable candidate group will now develop a 2-minute address in order to persuade the students from
the non-viable candidate groups to join their group. Make sure to remind students to include arguments
within their class address that will persuade these voters to join their side. Hint: have students use their
“who do you support” worksheet to point out similarities between their candidate and the non-viable
candidate that the students chose before. Or point out differences between the other viable candidates
and the student’s non-viable candidate choice.
10. After every group has addressed the class have the students once again move to the corner of the room
of their preferred candidate.
11. Count the number of students who support each candidate and record the information on the board.
12. Have students determine the percentage of the class that supports each candidate.
13. Assume that your precinct is heavily populated and has been awarded 4 delegates. Divide these
delegates proportionally amongst the candidates. For instance, if Candidate A has received 25% of the
vote then that candidate will receive 1 delegate, while if Candidate B has received 50% of the vote then
that candidate will receive 2 delegates.
14. This concludes the voting portion of the democratic caucus.
15. Remind students that these 4 delegates will move on to represent the precinct at the county convention,
at which point the caucus process will happen again. From there, the county will select delegates.
These county delegates will represent their county at the district conventions. The caucus process is
executed once again at these district conventions and delegates are chosen to attend the Iowa
Democratic Convention. Through the same caucus process the state of Iowa Democratic Party chooses
56 delegates to attend the National Democratic Convention. Just like the Republican National
Convention, these delegates have pledged to support the candidate that the state has chosen, however,
there is no law requiring them to do so. At the national convention the Democratic Party chooses its
presidential nominee. After both the Republican and Democrat national conventions have selected their
Presidential nominees the race for the general election begins.
Upload Results
1. Please upload your results to the caucus 101 website so we can add it to our state-wide caucus data.