Lesson 8 - To What Extent Do Economic Conditions Determine the Outcome of Presidential Elections?
Students consider how economic performance is evaluated and are introduced to four major indicators of macroeconomic performance: growth rate of real income, unemployment rate, inflation rate, misery index. They complete a worksheet comparing changes in these indicators with the outcomes of U.S. presidential elections from 1960 to 1992 and examine the influence of economic conditions on the likelihood of the incumbent party winning an election.

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Supplemental Resources

Glossary of Terms and Concepts

These are some of the important terms you'll cover in this lesson.

Glossary Handout (PDF - 55 KB)

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Would be good for interacting everyday activities with economics eg we cannot divorce economics from politics.


My students were all excited about the election, and this helped them focus on a relevant and timely topic. I used this in an economics class. Students came up with their own theories and conclusions based on the data - not just the 2 offered by the lesson.


This lesson was a fun and easy way to supplement the unit I was doing in my Marketing class on economics. We actually did it on election day and saved the last rating for the day after and had a great discussion.


The lessons are fantastic!!!!! The contents/contexts are up to date and are easier to manipulate for my students. Thank you for allowing me to learn with my students.


What a great way to make unemployment and inflation statistics relevant to students--especially this year. I'm going to use it with my freshmen college students!


Very good lesson, thank you.


Well planned, EXCELLENT research, ensures student engagement and TIMELY!

 US Civics

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