How would a Western school election have looked different?

When I was in Middle School the election for the first year I was there was a popularity contest, and the school admins didn't like those who were elected so the next year they just appointed people. At the high school level at my public school the school filtered the candidates from a list of people who wanted to run so they only let goody two shoes who would do what they said (and who were, interestingly, only female)run. At my private high school the school lets whoever wants to run.

Also: The campaign is almost entirely just a speech and a few posters in halls. This goes for all my schools.


"As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster. "

"The world is yours"

Here is what I remember from middle school student council elections. Students first had to get enough people to sign a petition supporting their "candidacy" to qualify to run. Then you would create posters to advertise your candidacy, and then you had to give a speech in front of the whole school. Usually the most amusing and creative speeches won the election. Bashing the other candidates was most definitely not allowed!

The fact that the students were allowed to be so ruthless in this film, and the parents seemed to be having fun teaching their kids how to run a vicious campaign, leads me to believe that this particular election was more along the lines of the classic Brown Eyes/Blue Eyes social experiment used to teach kids about about prejudice and discrimination. I get the feeling the parents were told ahead of time that this was more about teaching the kids about the kinds of shenanigans that happen during elections, and that the parents were encouraged to play along.