Collegereeks: de hedendaagse politiek in de VS
Student teacher Wouter van der Hoff explains and clarifies how American politics works. How do American elections work? How did it work in the past? And how does it work today?
Lecture 1: Principles of American Political Parties
In this introductory lecture, the principles of American politics are covered: the Constitution, the separation of powers, the relationship between states and government, the electoral process, the Electoral College, and the origins of the Democratic and Republican parties. From this, it becomes clear that the American system has inherently hampered democracy since its inception, and that this was not a mistake, but a deliberate choice by the Founding Fathers. It also becomes clear that the two-party system is not a theoretical, but primarily a practical reality – again due to the electoral system, in which not the vote of the people, but that of the electors counts. The lecture concludes with a brief history of the Democrats and Republicans from approximately 1850 to 1980: why these parties were founded, how their ideologies have changed over time, and why they might be better viewed as 'coalitions' rather than parties as we know them.
All dates
From 16 October to 20 November
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