Course Schedule and Catalog

Long Title: THE 2020 ELECTION: AN ANALYTICAL PERSPECTIVE (JONES)

Department: College Courses

Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Language of Instruction: Taught in English

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Hours: 1

Description: In late October 2020, Biden had a double-digit polling lead over Trump, and many political observers virtually assured the public of a Democratic landslide. When the election happened, a closer-than-expected Biden victory left many Americans with the same takeaways they had from 2016: that polls were broken, pundits had no clue what they were talking about, and Trump was impossible to analyze. This course will examine each of these assumptions. Talking about elections—especially this one—is an emotionally charged, partisan exercise. What can we learn from 2020 by analyzing the campaign while controlling for our emotions and partisan leanings? Each week, the class will cover one aspect of the election (race, COVID, debates, etc.) informed by readings: a combination of primary sources from the campaign and retrospective analysis of the topics’ effects. Students will conclude the course by writing a short political memo to a hypothetical 2024 candidate advising them on a lesson they should learn from 2020.