Topic 2.1 (Edexcel 3A.5.1, Electing the president and Congress, and 3A.5.2, Financing US elections; AQA 3.2.1.5, The electoral process and direct democracy)
The activities below accompany the Presidential Elections in the USA pages on histpology.co.uk: the presidential election process, primaries and national conventions, the Electoral College, incumbency, campaign finance, and the 2020 and 2024 case studies. Work through each set of activities alongside the page it refers to, using the tables and key terms in that article as your evidence base. The final section brings the topic together and includes exam-style practice.
Each activity is labelled with the Assessment Objective (AO, the skill the exam board is testing) it mainly targets: AO1 (knowledge and understanding), AO2 (analysis) or AO3 (evaluation). Some activities draw on more than one objective, in which case both are given. Each task also carries a suggested time, to help with planning independent study or lesson time. Rows shaded in peach are optional stretch and extension activities, for students who want to push their evaluation skills further.
Topic overview: Elections in the USA: Overview (https://histpology.co.uk/electoral-systems-in-the-usa-an-overview)
A. The presidential election process
These activities go with ‘Presidential Election Cycle’, covering the constitutional rules, the informal timeline built up around them, and where the 2028 race currently stands.
Read this article: Presidential Election Cycle (https://histpology.co.uk/presidential-election-cycle)
| No. | Activity | Task | Focus |
| A1 | Constitution or convention? | The article distinguishes between what the Constitution requires and what has developed through party practice and state law. Sort the following into the two categories, giving a one-sentence reason for each: the four year term, the Electoral College itself, the invisible primary, national party conventions, the safe harbour deadline, and the rules on faithless electors. (Allow around 10 minutes.) | AO1: recall and categorisation |
| A2 | Mapping the marathon | Using the timeline and glossary sections, build your own annotated timeline running from the invisible primary through to inauguration day. For each stage, write a one-line definition in your own words rather than copying the glossary directly. (Allow around 15 minutes.) | AO1: organisation and definition |
| A3 | The 2028 field | Using ‘Current position in the cycle (July 2026)’, write a briefing of around 150 words naming the leading contenders in each party and explaining why the picture is clearer on one side than the other. Then explain how the November 2026 midterm elections might reshape the field. (Allow around 20 minutes.) | AO2: application and prediction |
| A4 | Five times the count went wrong | The article states that the Electoral College outcome has diverged from the national popular vote result on five occasions. Research all five elections, then choose one and explain, using the constitutional mechanics described in the article, exactly how and why the divergence happened. (Allow around 15 minutes.) | AO1/AO2: research and explanation |
| A5 | Stretch: Is the process fit for purpose? | The invisible primary is governed almost entirely by party practice and campaign finance law rather than by the Constitution itself. Drawing on the constitutional requirements and current position sections, evaluate whether this largely unregulated, two-year process serves American democracy well, or whether it hands too much early influence to donors and party insiders before a single voter has had a say. (Allow around 20 minutes.) | AO3: evaluation (stretch) |
B. Primaries and national conventions
These activities go with ‘The Primary System in United States Elections’ and ‘National Nominating Conventions in the USA’, which cover how the parties actually choose their presidential candidate.
Read this page: The Primary System in United States Elections (https://histpology.co.uk/the-primary-system-in-united-states-elections)
Read this page: National Nominating Conventions in the USA (https://histpology.co.uk/national-nominating-conventions-in-the-usa)
| No. | Activity | Task | Focus |
| B1 | Closed, open, or semi-closed? | Using the table of primary types, explain the difference between closed primaries, semi-closed primaries and open primaries, and give a real example of a state that uses each. Then explain, in your own words, what is meant by ‘raiding’ and why it is a particular risk in open primaries. (Allow around 15 minutes.) | AO1: recall and explanation |
| B2 | The money primary | Explain what is meant by the invisible primary, and why strong early fundraising and polling tend to attract still more of both, making the process self-reinforcing. (Allow around 10 minutes.) | AO1/AO2: explanation |
| B3 | Two parties, two rulebooks | Compare the Republican and Democratic Party rules on delegate allocation, including the 15 March threshold for winner-take-all Republican contests and the Democratic Party’s proportional system throughout. Then explain how these different rules helped produce a Republican contest settled within six weeks in 2024, while the Democratic nomination took a very different path. (Allow around 20 minutes.) | AO2: comparison and explanation |
| B4 | Nominated without a vote | Explain how Kamala Harris became the 2024 Democratic nominee without contesting a single primary. Then evaluate what this reveals about the limits of the primary system as a guarantor of direct democratic choice, using the contrast between the millions of primary votes cast and the small number of delegates who ultimately chose the nominee. (Allow around 20 minutes.) | AO2/AO3: explanation and evaluation |
| B5 | From King Caucus to prime-time launch | Using the National Nominating Conventions article, explain why conventions before 1968 were genuine deliberative contests, and how the McGovern-Fraser Commission reforms changed their function afterwards. (Allow around 15 minutes.) | AO1/AO2: explanation |
| B6 | Still worth having? | Complete a case-for and case-against table on whether national nominating conventions still matter, using the fall in television audiences from around 70 million in 1952 to around 18 to 20 million in 2024 as one piece of evidence. Then write a short paragraph reaching your own reasoned judgement. (Allow around 20 minutes.) | AO2/AO3: analysis and judgement |
| B7 | Stretch: Trump v Trump, primaries edition | In April 2016, Donald Trump called the primary process ‘a rigged, disgusting dirty system’ after unbound delegate rules in Colorado favoured Ted Cruz. In May 2016, after winning the nomination, he said, ‘Now I don’t say it anymore because I won.’ Using evidence from both articles, evaluate whether this kind of shifting rhetoric undermines otherwise legitimate criticisms of how candidates are chosen. (Allow around 20 minutes.) | AO3: evaluation (stretch) |
C. The Electoral College
These activities go with ‘The Electoral College in the USA’, which sets out its origins, mechanics, controversies and possible reforms.
Read this article: The Electoral College in the USA (https://histpology.co.uk/the-electoral-college-in-the-usa)
| No. | Activity | Task | Focus |
| C1 | From compromise to controversy | In your own words, explain why the Electoral College was described as a compromise at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. What were the two alternatives it was chosen instead of, and why was each rejected? (Allow around 10 minutes.) | AO1/AO2: knowledge and explanation |
| C2 | How many electors, and why? | Draw a flowchart or diagram showing how a state’s number of electors is calculated, how most states allocate them, how Maine and Nebraska differ, and what happens if no candidate reaches 270 votes. (Allow around 10 minutes.) | AO1: knowledge and understanding |
| C3 | Faithless but not free | Research the Supreme Court case Chiafalo v Washington. Explain what the Court ruled, and why the ruling matters for how much discretion a faithless elector actually has once appointed. (Allow around 15 minutes.) | AO1/AO2: research and explanation |
| C4 | Strengths, weaknesses, judgement | Complete your own strengths and weaknesses table for the Electoral College using the ‘Evaluating its significance today’ section. Then write a short paragraph reaching a reasoned judgement, referring to the September 2024 Gallup finding that 58 per cent of Americans favour replacing the system, and to why most states have still not joined the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. (Allow around 20 minutes.) | AO2/AO3: analysis and judgement |
| C5 | Should the US scrap the Electoral College? | In pairs or small groups, hold a structured discussion using the ‘Possible reforms’ section. One side should argue for reform (for example, a national popular vote), the other for keeping the current system. Each side must use at least two pieces of evidence from the article. (Allow around 20 minutes, in pairs or small groups.) | AO2/AO3: analysis and evaluation |
| C6 | Stretch: The road not taken | Using the ‘Possible reforms’ section, take the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact and evaluate, using evidence about which states have joined and why, why it has stalled short of the 270 electoral votes needed to take effect. (Allow around 20 minutes.) | AO2/AO3: evaluation (stretch) |
D. Incumbency
These activities go with ‘Incumbency in US Presidential Elections’, which examines how far already holding office shapes a candidate’s chances.
Read this article: Incumbency in Presidential Elections (https://histpology.co.uk/incumbency-in-us-presidential-elections)
| No. | Activity | Task | Focus |
| D1 | Defining the advantage | In your own words, define incumbency advantage. Using the ‘Defining incumbency and its advantage’ section, list at least three separate reasons why it exists. (Allow around 10 minutes.) | AO1: definition and recall |
| D2 | Success and failure | Using the case study sections, build your own comparison table featuring at least two incumbent presidents who won re-election and two who lost. For each, note the main factors behind the outcome. (Allow around 15 minutes.) | AO2: comparison |
| D3 | A president in all but name? | Using the ‘Quasi-incumbency problem: 2024’ section, explain what is meant by quasi-incumbency. Then evaluate whether Kamala Harris’s position as a quasi-incumbent in 2024 helped or hindered her campaign, and why. (Allow around 15 minutes.) | AO2/AO3: explanation and evaluation |
| D4 | The open seat | Explain why the Twenty Second Amendment guarantees that the presidency is contested as a genuinely open seat roughly every eight years. Using the material on the 2028 cycle, discuss how the absence of an incumbent might change the way candidates campaign. (Allow around 15 minutes.) | AO2: explanation and application |
| D5 | Stretch: How much does incumbency really matter? | Drawing together the historical record, the case studies in success and failure, and the 2024 quasi-incumbency problem, reach your own overall, evidenced judgement on how significant incumbency really is in the modern era. (Allow around 20 minutes.) | AO3: evaluation (stretch) |
E. Campaign finance
These activities go with ‘Campaign Finance’, which traces the rising cost of running for president, where the money comes from and goes, and how reform has repeatedly reopened new channels for spending.
Read this page: Campaign Finance (https://histpology.co.uk/us-presidential-election-campaign-finance)
| No. | Activity | Task | Focus |
| E1 | Charting the cost | Using the table showing total spending by election year, describe the overall trend since 1976. Identify the largest single jump in spending between two elections and explain the context given for it. (Allow around 10 minutes.) | AO2: data interpretation |
| E2 | Follow the money | Using the table on where campaign money comes from, sort the different sources into those that are legally capped and those that are not. Explain, in your own words, why this distinction exists. (Allow around 10 minutes.) | AO1/AO2: categorisation |
| E3 | Where does it go? | Using the table on campaign spending categories, identify the largest category of spending and explain why campaigns prioritise it over the others listed. (Allow around 10 minutes.) | AO2: data interpretation |
| E4 | From FECA to now | Build your own reform timeline covering at least four milestones drawn from the ‘Analysing and evaluating campaign finance reform’ table, including the Federal Election Campaign Act 1974 and Citizens United v FEC. For each, note what it did and what its outcome was. (Allow around 15 minutes.) | AO1: chronological organisation |
| E5 | PAC, Super PAC, hybrid PAC | Using the case study on Political Action Committees (PACs), explain the difference between a connected PAC, a Super PAC and a hybrid PAC. Use the Future Forward example, which raised over $950 million backing Kamala Harris in 2024, to illustrate the scale a hybrid PAC can reach. (Allow around 15 minutes.) | AO2: comparison and application |
| E6 | Is money decisive? | Kamala Harris and allied groups raised roughly $2 billion in 2024 against about $1.45 billion for Donald Trump, and lost. Using this figure alongside the article’s conclusion, argue both for and against the claim that money determines the outcome of presidential elections, then reach your own reasoned judgement. (Allow around 20 minutes.) | AO3: evaluation and judgement |
| E7 | Stretch: Has anything changed since? | Research one campaign finance development that has occurred since this article was written, then assess how far it supports or challenges the article’s own metaphor that ‘money, like water, will always find an outlet’. (Allow around 25 minutes.) | AO1/AO3: research and evaluation (stretch) |
F. Case studies: the 2020 and 2024 elections
These activities go with ‘2020 and 2024 US Presidential Elections’, which sets the two most recent contests side by side.
Read this page: 2020 and 2024 US Presidential Elections (https://histpology.co.uk/2020-and-2024-us-presidential-elections)
| No. | Activity | Task | Focus |
| F1 | Two timelines side by side | Using the separate timelines for 2020 and 2024, build a single parallel timeline that lines up comparable moments from each cycle, such as the party conventions and the final result. (Allow around 15 minutes.) | AO2: comparison |
| F2 | Common threads | Using ‘Comparing the two cycles’, identify the features shared by both elections, including an unexpected shock event, doubts raised about a candidate’s fitness for office, and the reforms tested after 2020. For each, give specific supporting evidence from both years. (Allow around 15 minutes.) | AO2: synthesis |
| F3 | Briefing for an outsider | Write a short briefing, of around 200 words, explaining the 2024 election to someone with no prior knowledge of the US political system. You must correctly use at least five key terms defined elsewhere on the site, for example Electoral College, invisible primary or Super PAC. (Allow around 25 minutes.) | AO1: knowledge and understanding |
| F4 | Stretch: Which cycle mattered more? | Evaluate which of the 2020 and 2024 elections posed the greater test of the resilience of the US electoral system, using specific evidence from both cycles to support your answer. (Allow around 20 minutes.) | AO3: evaluation (stretch) |
G. Bringing it together
These synoptic activities draw on the whole of Topic 2.1 and are best attempted once you have completed sections A to F.
Read this page: Presidential Elections in the USA (topic hub) (https://histpology.co.uk/electoral-systems-in-the-usa)
| No. | Activity | Task | Focus |
| G1 | Trump v Trump | In 2012, Donald Trump called the Electoral College “a disaster for a democracy”. In 2016, he called it “actually genius”. Using at least three specific pieces of evidence from sections A to E, decide which verdict the evidence better supports, and explain why he might have changed his mind. (Allow around 20 minutes.) | AO3: synoptic evaluation |
| G2 | Exam practice | Plan and write a timed essay on one of the following questions, using a simple for / against / judgement grid before you start. Edexcel: ‘Evaluate the view that the Electoral College is no longer fit for purpose.’ AQA: ‘Evaluate the extent to which campaign finance rules constrain who can become president.’ (Allow 40 to 45 minutes, in line with your exam board’s essay timing.) | AO1/AO2/AO3: extended essay |
| G3 | The 2028 cycle so far | As of July 2026, the country is at the very start of the 2028 cycle. Drawing on sections A, B and D, write a short prediction of how the primaries, incumbency, money and the Electoral College are likely to shape the race over the next two years, making clear which of your claims are evidence-based and which are speculation. (Allow around 15 minutes.) | AO2: application and prediction |
| G4 | Stretch: The strongest possible case | Construct the strongest possible case for the argument that, in American presidential elections, money matters more than the formal rules. Draw on evidence from every section above. Then write a short paragraph setting out the best evidence against your own case. (Allow around 25 minutes.) | AO2/AO3: synthesis and evaluation (stretch) |
A fuller comparison between the US system and the UK’s general election process is developed elsewhere on histpology.co.uk.