First Annual World Series of Electoral Knowledge?

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

After catching an episode of this "World Series of Pop Culture" nonsense on the VH1 while at the gym, I got to thinking—wouldn't a "World Series of Electoral Knowledge" be much more exciting?

The answer, of course, is "no."  No, it wouldn't.  At least not for VH1.  But for here...maybe.  Especially considering our appreciation of details and political minutia.

So, I propose we hold a tentatively-named "First Annual World Series of Electoral Knowledge" right here on the forum.  Any interest?

[Speed of Sound]

Id be in, but we would have to find a way so people couldnt cheat, or just trust an honesty system.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Id be in, but we would have to find a way so people couldnt cheat, or just trust an honesty system.

I anticipated the possibility, which is why I mentally designed it in my head where each round of questions would
(1) Read in real time, through instant messaging or somesuch,
(2) Give people a limited amount of time to answer such that googling/atlasing is too time consuming or inadequate so far as providing the correct answer is concerned.

It'd probably proceed along at the rate of a round per week, to give people ample time to take the questions at their own convienience.

[Speed of Sound]

That should work out just fine. Count me in.

[Sensei]

Me too

[Gabu]

Sure, why not.  I don't think I know enough to be a contender, but there's not much to lose.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Okay, that's enough interest at least to get started on some rules.

If things go well enough with this all, I suppose the whole thing can start next week.

[Keystone Phil]

I'm in.

[Sensei]

Okay, that's enough interest at least to get started on some rules.

If things go well enough with this all, I suppose the whole thing can start next week.

Is it every man for himself, or teams?

[Gabu]

How does the pop culture thing work?  I'm not acquainted with it.

[Joe Republic]

How does the pop culture thing work?  I'm not acquainted with it.

Jeez Gabu, I didn't realize you were quite this out of touch.  Here's Wikipedia's summary for you:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

I'd be interested.

Actually in a couple of weeks at school, I'll be taking on a Year 11 student and an International Studies teacher in a political quiz at school. Wish me luck for that one.

[Gabu]

How does the pop culture thing work?  I'm not acquainted with it.

Jeez Gabu, I didn't realize you were quite this out of touch.  Here's Wikipedia's summary for you:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

To express my appreciation, here is the first Google Image Search result for "thank you joe republic":

[Sensei]

The world series of pop culture is a contest where two teams of three compete against each other in a variety of pop culture subjects.

The Moderator states the category, and both teams select who they want to go up of the three on their team. There are six questions per round. If you miss, the other team can steal, and still get their question afterwards. If it ends 3-3, there is a tiebreak.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

The world series of pop culture is a contest where two teams of three compete against each other in a variety of pop culture subjects.

The Moderator states the category, and both teams select who they want to go up of the three on their team. There are six questions per round. If you miss, the other team can steal, and still get their question afterwards. If it ends 3-3, there is a tiebreak.

Okay, that's enough interest at least to get started on some rules.

If things go well enough with this all, I suppose the whole thing can start next week.

Is it every man for himself, or teams?

I doubt there will be enough people for teams (like is said above, its three to a team), nor do I think we'll be lucky enough to have people sign up in multiples of six, so a modified version played 'every man for himself' would probably work best.

Like..a cross between the VH1 format and the "bar trivia" format.  Or something.

[Beet]

I'm in.

[Bacon King]

I'll do it.

[CultureKing]

I'm up for it

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Okay, so, taking into consideration that the game would run best as a everyone-for-themselves type contest, here are the proposed rules.

FIRST ANNUAL WORLD SERIES OF ELECTORAL KNOWLEDGE
( 1 ) Length of play.  Gameplay will consist of eight rounds in total, with the maximum length of each round being one week.  Gameplay may be moved along at a faster pace if all contestants finish a round before the one week deadline.
( 2 ) Start of play.  Gameplay will begin Monday, July 23, 2007.
( 3 ) Rounds 1 through 3.
( 3 ) ( a ) Each of the first three rounds will have their own unifying subject, i.e., "Governors," "The Election of 1976," "Races Myrth York Lost," etc.
( 3 ) ( b ) Each of these rounds will have five questions, with point values of 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500.  Easier questions will be assigned lower point values; harder (more obscure?) questions will be assigned higher point values.
( 3 ) ( c ) During each round, each contestant will contact me to choose one of the five questions to answer, knowing only the category and relative difficulty of each question.  The question will be given in real time (via instant messenger?) and the contestant will have 15 seconds to respond with an answer.  If the answer is correct, the point value of the question will be added to their score.  If they answer incorrectly, the point value of the question will be deducted from their score.  If they choose not to answer or "pass," no points will be deducted from their score.
( 3 ) ( d ) The contestant will then choose two more questions in the same category, with play continuing as in (c).
( 4 ) Round 4.
( 4 ) ( a ) In Round 4, Contestants will be given a choice between two categories, each with a single question.  This question will have at least five correct answers. [i.e., "There were at least 16 candidates who sought the Presidency of the United States in 2004 by making it on to at least one statewide ballot.  Name them."]
( 4 ) ( b ) Contestants will then have to name at least one correct answer every 15 seconds.  Correct answers will be worth 200 points each; no points will be deducted for an incorrect answer, but the first one given will end the round for that contestant.
( 5 ) Rounds 5 through 7.  Rounds five through seven will proceed just as rounds one through three, but the point values of each question will be increased to 200, 400, 600, 800, and 1000, respectively.
( 6 ) Round 8.  Round 8 will proceed as Round 4.  This time, however, the question will have at least 10 correct answers; each correct answer will be worth 500 points.
( 7 ) Bonus Points.  In any round, if a correct answer is given by only one player, the point value for that particular answer will be doubled.  (These points will be awarded regardless of how many players attempted said question.)
( 8 ) Tiebreaker.  If necessary, a ninth round, similar to the eighth, will be played between any players tied after the final week of play.
( 9 ) Intermission.  Questions, their correct answers, and a running score tally will be given here at the conclusion of each round.
( 10 ) Late entry.  Contestants can join in the game at any time during its run, but no credit will be given for missed weeks.  Similarly, contestants can continue play after missing a round of questions, but no credit nor make-up questions will be given.
( 11 ) Cheating.   Though the game has been designed to eliminate the value of cheating as much as possible, contestants agree that they will not use outside sources—Google, the Election Atlas, other contestants, etc.—to research the answers to a given question.  Any contestant found to be cheating will be eliminated from gameplay.
( 12 ) Contestant requirements.  For my own sanity, no one who has been banned from the Election Atlas Forum shall be allowed to participate.
( 13 ) Pity Clause.  Because negative numbers all look sad and pathetic and stuff, all contestants will be given 1,000 points to start.  If a contestant still winds up in the negatives, all indebted points must be repaid through hard labor in the salt mines.

[Speed of Sound]

But I just got out of the salt mines! Fine, looks good to me.

[Sensei]

No problem here.

[CultureKing]

[Harry Hayfield]

No problem here either (and if this is world, will we get questions like)

"What was the % turnout in the Samoan general election of 2002?"

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

No problem here either (and if this is world, will we get questions like)

"What was the % turnout in the Samoan general election of 2002?"

Heh, no certainly not something that obscure.  But some of the questions certainly would push the obscure for someone who is not super familiar with American politics, I suppose.

Besides, a good question would be formatted in a way that gives you the percentage and year, and asks for the country.  But only if it's notable in some way.  I mean, I guess I could include a question about Rep. Payne (D-NJ), but honestly, who gives a sh**t about Rep. Payne?

That's part of the reasoning behind the question point value ranges.  If you feel comfortable with subject matter on more obscure races or subject matter on older races, try some of the high value questions.  If you feel unsure, start with some lower values -- the questions will be on more recent events, and more prominent campaigns/offices.

I'm going to see how well the first couple rounds go, and if the subject matter seems too rough or too easy, I'll adjust accordingly for the later rounds.  But hey, if it's hard for you, it's hard for everyone else, no?  We're grading on a curve, here~!

[HardRCafé]

[signals interest]