The American Election System
As the 2020 presidential and congressional elections loom, this course will focus on the American elections system. We'll take a look at how the system was set up, the history of the two main parties, the electoral college, and more! We'll answer the questions pundits ask every 4 years: Why do we only have 2 parties? Why don't we have more women running for office? Why don't Americans vote in higher numbers? Bring your questions and don't forget to register to vote!
Class 1: History of the Elections System in the US - how and why it was set up the way it exists today, including the electoral college
Class 2: Access to the polls - who can vote, since when, and who actually goes to the polls
Class 3: History and Development of the Democratic and Republican parties, as well as how does campaign finance play into this
Class 4: A deep dive into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences' "Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century" - we'll take a look at a few of these 31 suggestions for strengthening our democracy and discuss together how they may be in/effective
Our teacher Jasmine Gothelf Winship lives in Boston and works in politics and foreign policy as the Deputy Regional Director for J Street, New England. She received her LLM in International, European and French Private Law from the University of Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne and her J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. She is a lover of languages, speaking English, Hebrew, Spanish and French.
DATES ARE: Mondays 9/14, 9/21, 10/12, 10/26 8 - 9:30 PM
A series of 4 lectures for only $60