Update November 2024

The losers of the election are probably still stunned, shocked and busy analyzing what went wrong.

It was indeed one of the most exiting elections ever. Considering the outcome, the ostrich feeling has recurred a little. However, following how things develop is the better choice.

So out we stay.

Below are links to a few of the articles I read or listened to in the aftermath of the election.

A comment by Paul Krugmann on the economic prospects or consequences for the economy if the announcements made by Trump are actually followed through:

Opinion | ‘People Are in for a Really Rude Shock’ on Trump’s Economy – The New York Times

David French comments on Trumps choices for crucial offices: Opinion | Donald Trump Is Already Starting to Fail – The New York Times

Among the age group of 18 to 29 year olds is a considerable gender gap between Trump and Harris voters. Jonathan tries to explain possible reasons for this divide: What’s behind the global political divide between young men and women? | US elections 2024 | The Guardian

The following Ted talk is a longer interview with Ian Bremmer, an American political scientist. Ian Bremmer: Trump’s 2024 election win — and what’s next | TED Talk

And another one: Opinion | This Is the Dark, Unspoken Promise of Trump’s Return – The New York Times

***

One of the main problems with the political system of the US that experts see is the misrepresentation of Americans in the Senate: No matter how many people live in a state, they get to send two senators to Washington. This gives an overproportionately louder voice to small states that tend to lean Republican, and makes life for any Democratic president very difficult.

If Senate seats were allocated according to population size, Congress would have a clear Democratic majority. However, when the US American political system was built, the so-called ‘founding fathers’ didn’t not want to give smaller states a marked disadvantage, which is why the number of delegates for the House of Representatives was to be proportional to population size, but the number of Senators was to be the same for all states.

Today, however, the population sizes are so different that having the same number of representatives for states like California, Texas or New York as for Montana, Idaho or Vermont seems anti-democratic.

*

I will continue with the follow up topics mentioned below, especially with Colin Woodard’s 11 Nations of America. He has written a second book he speaks about online. [American Character] | C-SPAN.org. I will leave the original pre-election passage about the electoral system (below).

*

Many of the questions that come up in election years in classes concern the US election system, especially the electoral college. With the help of the Vox article below, answer the following questions. Or watch this TED Ed video.

1. Who is eligible to vote?
2. What does ‘registering to vote’ mean?
3. How do you register?
4. Is there any state where you do not have to register?
5. What is the electoral college?
6. How many people does it comprise?
7. When and why was this kind of voting system chosen?
8. Check a most recent US electoral map and find out how many electors each state has.
9. Who are the electors?
10. How are they chosen?
11. Are they always faithful?
12. Which states have early voting (besides Georgia)?
13. When was early voting introduced and why? Early voting – Wikipedia
14. Do you need to give a reason if you want to vote by mail?
15. How do you find your polling place on Election Day?
16. Do you have to show any ID before voting?
17. What is considered voter intimidation?

Voting Rights | Vox

How Are Electoral College Electors Chosen? | HISTORY

Historical U.S. Presidential Elections 1789-2020 – 270toWin A visual tour through history with every electoral map from the beginning of the constitution of the USA.

For fun you could do some Find the US States Quiz before. We did two in some classes: one for practice and orientation – US States Map Quiz – and a second more challenging one – Find the US States Quiz.

Inventing the American presidency – Kenneth C. Davis | TED-Ed

Interactive Electoral Map

A critical perspective on the US system

Follow ups

A spin off topic in connection with the topic above that frequently crosses my mind concerns the relationship of Germans to the US. On the one hand, there are many ‘fans’ who travel, or have traveled, the US extensively – more than many Americans. But you also have Germans who are rather detached from the US, know little about its history and resent ‘Americanisms’. And there are quite a few die-hard clichés floating around like ‘Americans know nothing about Europe’, Americans are so ignorant, they are surprised Germans have refrigerators and think Hitler is still alive.

As with all categories that include too many people (men, women, generations, to name just a few), those grouping people by nationality are just as flawed – not just flawed: dangerously limited.

So one spin-off topic of all topics is ‘The Nature of Categories’

But closer to the topic of this post:

• German Americans
• German Emigration to the US
• Ethnic groups in the US, past and present
• The Conquering of a Continent or How Europeans encroached upon the population of North America
• How United are the United States: Colin Woodards American Nations: The 11 rival regions of North America

When researching the election and revisiting the immigration history of the US, I came across a map. When we think of the US and its history, we think of the Mayflower and James Town, the first English settlers to the ‘New World’ and Thanksgiving. However, the English Europeans (followed by Irish and Scots Irish and Germans and Italian…) were not the first settlers to the continent of North America. From the south, Spanish came to settle in Florida, Mexico and the West Coast of North America. In the North, French came – mainly interested in natural resources like furs – and gradually crossed the continent via the South. This movement of the French, at least in my intellectual consciousness, often gets neglected. But it is behind all the French names you find thoughout the US, from Detroit to New Orleans.

So how did this map end up to be this one?

Here a slightly different one

This map shows the US really has 11 separate ‘nations’ with entirely different cultures The link is to an article from the Independent written 27 November, 2017, summarizing Colin Woodards book.

In ‘American Nations’, Colin Woodard tells the story of how different peoples from different countries came to the USA for various different reasons. Their different ethnic and socio-cultural backgrounds have influenced the regions they settled until today and might explain why the United States is less united than we think they should.

Banjo scene from Deliverance with additional movie scenes. Shows clash of cultures and a fantastic piece of music.