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9th grade · Social Studies · Unit 4 of 7

Governing Maine

Ranked-choice voting, initiatives and federalism

What your child practices

How Maine governs itself within the federal system: ranked-choice voting, citizen initiatives and the people's veto, split electoral votes, the Clean Election Act, a part-time citizen legislature, federalism and the Bill of Rights, and civic duties compared with civic responsibilities.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: Civics & Government 1; Civics & Government 2 · the structures and processes of government in Maine and the United States, and the rights, duties and responsibilities of citizens

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Maine uses ranked-choice voting in primaries and federal elections: voters rank candidates in order. Citizens approved it by initiative.
  2. Maine’s citizen legislature is part-time; House members can serve four two-year terms in a row. It picks the Secretary of State, Attorney General and Treasurer.
  3. The Clean Election Act offers public funding to qualifying candidates.

Example: With ranked-choice voting, what do Maine voters do? They don’t pick just one candidate. They rank the candidates in order of preference. Answer: rank candidates in order of preference

Governing Maine in Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 4 of 7 in 9th grade Social Studies, after Media & Democracy and before How the Nation Governs.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Maine Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Maine's Legislature is often called a citizen legislature because…

    • any citizen can vote on every bill
    • members serve part-time and hold other jobs
    • it has no elections

  2. Question 2

    Consent of the governed means…

    • the army chooses leaders
    • government gets its power from the people
    • leaders inherit power

  3. Question 3

    The first ten amendments to the US Constitution are called the…

    • Federalist Papers
    • Bill of Rights
    • Articles of Confederation

  4. Question 4

    The Maine Clean Election Act lets qualifying candidates…

    • run with public funding instead of private donations
    • skip the election
    • serve for life

  5. Question 5

    Which is a civic duty, required by law?

    • serving on a jury when called
    • volunteering at a food bank
    • joining a political party

  6. Question 6

    A checks and balances example in Maine: if the Governor vetoes a bill, the Legislature can…

    • override it with a two-thirds vote of both houses
    • ignore the veto
    • remove the Governor

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