Exploration

1. The Green Parties of North America use both electoral politics and direct action to work for the issues most important to their ideology: peace, environmental sanity, democracy, and social justice. They are building political parties that seek consensus rather than passing down orders from the top. While certainly no electoral threat to either the Republican or Democratic Party, the Greens do have a growing salience among American voters, particularly younger voters. To understand more about this party, go to http://www.greens.org/na.html and find out the following by hitting the various related links on "Presidential Candidates," "History and Introduction," "Ten Key Values," and "Membership." After reading the material found in these four links, answer the following questions:

1. What are the values of the Green parties? Do these values resonate with you?
2. How successful have Greens been in recent elections in the United States?
3. Is there a Green organization in your state?
4. In 2000, who were the Green Party candidates for President? Review their careers.
5. Which European party encouraged Americans to form the USA Green Party?
6. How would you describe the national organizational structure of the Greens?
7. What are the "ten interconnected Key Values of Green Politics" in America?
8. Do any of the ten values appeal to your own political beliefs—why or why not? Would you support the Green Party? Why or why not?
9. How would a citizen become a member of the Green Party? What is the cost?

 2. All of the major political parties, and most of the minor ones, have websites on the internet. These websites provide news, information, and even links to other websites of interest to the party. Go to http://www.looksmart.com/ and you will find the LookSmart search website. LookSmart is organized according to the directory approach, similar to Yahoo and Magellan. It is among the newest of the major directory search websites. Select the link to "Society & Politics" in the left-hand column; select the next menu item "Politics", and then select the next menu item "Parties & Movements". The nested menu items that come up list all the major political parties, plus links to minor ones as well.

• Select the link to the "Democratic Party." How many websites are associated with the Democratic Party?
• Follow the top link to "Democrats Online." Select the link to "DNC News." Summarize one news item from the Democratic National Committee.
• Go back to LookSmart by clicking the back button on your browser until you get to the menu selection that lists all of the parties. Next select the link to the Republican Party. How many websites are associated with the Republican Party?
• Follow the link to the "Republican National Committee". Select the link to the "Newsroom." Summarize one news item.
• Go back to LookSmart and select the link to the "Reform Party." How many websites are associated with the Reform Party? Select the link to the main "Reform Party" website and go to its home page. Then select the "in the news" link and summarize one news item.
• Go back to LookSmart and select the link to the Libertarian Party. How many websites are associated with the party? Select the top link to the "Libertarian Party USA" and you will be at the party’s home page. Select the link on the right-hand side of the page and "Take the quiz!" The quiz, billed as the "World’s Smallest Political Quiz" purports to be able to label your political identity. Take the quiz and briefly discuss the interpretation of your score given by the website. Does it surprise you that most of the people who have taken the quiz are classified as Libertarian? Why or why not? (Include in your discussion mention of who might be visiting the Libertarian website besides students of American government like you!)
• Follow one more link from the LookSmart website and summarize what you found.