Unit9: Politics, Scandals and Voters in the US and in the UK:


Intro:

In this unit, we will reflect on the main political scandals the US and the UK have been faced with. This will lead us to find out more about journalists and whistleblowers, not to mention modern campaigning and the rise of populism. As we will be working on politics, try and keep an eye on on the French presidential election and on political news in the English-speaking world too!

Survival kit:

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EC1 Unit9 Survival kit by Lisa, Jeremy and Corentin
EC1 Unit11 Survival kit by Jeremy Corent
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Download the file and add whatever you think is important.



Step1: Main political scandals in the US:

-Scandals revolving around US Presidents:

  • Watergate: (doc1a)

Link1, Link2, Link3, Link4, Watergate in one minute ------------------->

  • Monicagate: (doc1b)

Link1, Link2, link3

  • The controversies around former President Trump: (doc1c)

-A few others:

"When presidents deceive"

The biggest lies in recent history (The Washington Post)



Step2: Main political scandals in the UK:

 

-Scandals (directly or indirectly) revolving around British Prime Ministers, MPs, or the monarch:

  • Doc2a Boris Johnson's blunders after Partygate, Liz Truss's resignation and Rishi Sunak's problems (cf unit6) = read the Unit6 recap again and sum up the recent scandals about Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.
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EC1 Unit6 recap (2023)
EC1 Unit6 recap final by Charles and Mal
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  • King Charles III's controversies and The Black Spider memos:

Doc2b cf -----------------------------------------> to the right, above

(+ unit1/ UK Institutions)

  • The Pandora papers (+//Panama + Paradise Papers):

Doc2c ------------------------------------------------------------------------>

 



Step3: How these scandals were exposed:

  • Investigative journalism: The "Fourth Estate":

Definition, Watchdog definition

Watergate legacy (The Washington Post)

Pulitzer Prize

"Investigative journalism is crucial to fight AI and disinformation" (Politico)

  • Negative campaigning and the toxicity of politics: cf units 3+6

Link1, Link2,

"Politics is brutal and takes a toll on the mental health of leaders" (The Guardian)

  • Spin doctors:

Link1/ Link2, Steve Bannon, the most famous spin doctor



Step4: The aftermath: the rise of populism and distrust in politics?

 -The rise of populism, extremism and political distrust:

Definition of populism (Britannica)

 

doc4a: Why Populism is Rising and How to combat it (Forbes) Shanel, Antoine, Salimata, Martha, Guillaume (note down all your ideas here)

 

doc4b: Stop blaming the rise of populism on economic angst (World Economic Forum) (Guillaume) (note down all your ideas here)

 

doc4c: "Too old" (cartoon) --------------------------------------------------->

Cyprien, Kilyan, Juliette, Ibrahima (note down all your ideas here)

Younger voices and emerging figures in US politics:

In the Republican Party: (Cyprien)

Rob DeSantis: link1/ link2

Virek Ramaswamy: link1/ link2

Lauren Boebert: link

 

In the Democratic Party: (Kilyan)

AOC: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: link

Cory Booker: link

Joseph Shapiro: link

 

-US divisions and secession movements:

doc4d: "Civil War" trailer (Sohanna) --------------------------------------->

note down all your ideas here

doc4e: "Texit: Texas secession closer than anyone thinks", (Newsweek) Thibault, Romain, Afi, Sohanna

note down all your ideas here

doc4f: "Ban Donald Trump petition hits 500,000 signatures" (Newsweek) Matteo, Quentin, Nicole, Assia

 note down all your ideas here

 

-UK divisions and disillusion of voters:

doc4g: "Rishi Sunak's doom loop" (The Guardian) (Assia)

note down all your ideas here

doc4h: "Voter disillusionment in UK: eight voters dissatisfied with how government is running" (Ipsos) Axel, Tom, Romain, Noah

note down all your ideas here

 

-The Safeguard of Constitution, Checks and Balances and Impeachment in the US: (cf Unit3/US institutions)

  • The US Constitution:

The US Constitution, the 2nd article, Amendments to the US Constitution

  • The Checks and Balances:

Link1, Link2

  • Impeachment:

Main facts

-The UK political system (cf Unit6)

-Any solutions?

In the US: Link1, Link2, Link3

In the UK: Link1, Link2

"Tool old?", by John Cole, March 24, 2024
"Tool old?", by John Cole, March 24, 2024


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