Students for President: Students accept the election 

In the year of the United States presidential election, the „Students for President“ competition refines the political awareness of students and arms them against fake news. Together with its partner Google, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung calls on secondary school students to take a self-determined and critical look at democratic politics, using the example of the U.S. election campaign.  

In the course of the competition, the students will encounter and question similarities and differences between the political systems and election processes in the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany. Topics such as the corona pandemic, racism, or police violence are of concern to us in Germany as well. But the two democratic systems also differ significantly. 

Equipped with new insights, the students design their ideal version of a presidential inauguration speech for the United States. They write or film a fictional but realistic speech from the perspective of the winning candidate. 

The added value at a glance:  

• Practical support, including prepared teaching material in German and English and a digital election guide 
• Suitable for on-site or online collaboration 

• Realisation of the project in German or English 
• Free digital subscriptions of the F.A.Z. 

 The task 

The students will be asked to critically examine the U.S. election campaign. They will continuously research facts on the issues discussed during the election campaign and compare them with the candidates‘ positions. They will place the discussions in the U.S. election campaign in the broader context of democratic opinion-forming. For this purpose, they will receive access to the materials of the competition as well as the online version of the F.A.Z. 

This continuously updated election guide will accompany teachers and students through the various phases of the U.S. election campaign and democratic processes in general. 

At the end of the project period, the students will design and realise the inaugural address of the U.S. president in teams. They will put themselves in the position of an actual newly elected U.S. president and design a realistic inaugural address for him. In the inaugural address, the U.S. president traditionally gives an outlook on his plans for his presidency. Students learn about the format of the inaugural address by examining famous examples such as John F. Kennedy’s speech. They are free to choose the format in which they realise their inaugural address. For example, a text, a video, or a website is conceivable.