Politics taster - The 2020 US Presidential Elections

As this session takes place, the new US President Joe Biden will have been in office for less than a week, having won the Presidency in one of the most unusual and dramatic election campaigns the United States have experienced in recent decades, against an incumbent President known for his abrasive communication style as well as for some rather controversial policy decisions in the previous four years. For some time now the US electorate has been quite sharply divided between Democrats and Republicans, and in political terms the two parties have moved further away from each other than at any time since the 1960s. Moreover, the current COVID crisis, which affected many parts of the USA quite heavily, prevented many typical campaign activities such as mass meetings, street canvassing and fundraising events with candidates in attendance. As a result, the role of mass media as well as social media became much more significant in the campaigning, and to cast their votes many voters choose to post absentee ballots rather than attending polling stations in person. This session is designed to review the 2020 US Presidential Election in the context of wider political issues in US politics, including party-political polarisation, populism, social divides within the US society, and problems in combatting the COVID crisis. It will conclude with an outlook on the Biden presidency and the key issues which will need to be addressed by the new administration

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