A panel titled “The American Presidential Election and Its Result” was organized by the Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Cyprus Policy Center and the Faculty of Business and Economics, Department of Political Science and International Relations. The panel took place on the 10th of November 2016 at the EMU Prof. Dr. Mehmet Tahiroğlu Hall. American Embassy Politics and Economy Department Head Patrick Connell and EMU Department of Political Science and International Relations Chair Assoc. Prof. Dr. Erol Kaymak participated in the panel as speakers.
The panel was headed by Prof. Dr. Ahmet Sözen, Head of the EMU Cyprus Policy Center. In his opening speech, Prof. Dr. Sözen thanked those in attendance and noted that the panel will examine the different dimensions of the politics Republican Donald Trump might carry out after becoming the president of the United States of America (USA).
American Embassy Politics and Economy Department Head Patrick Connell gave the first speech at the panel. Connell started his speech by explaining the technicalities of the election system and went on to say that the legislation, jurisdiction and execution provided by the American constitution limit each other because of a separation of forces. Touching upon the American Presidential Elections with an institutional and historic perspective, Connell explained the workings of the system.
After Connell’s speech, EMU Department of Political Science and International Relations Chair Assoc. Prof. Dr. Erol Kaymak delivered a speech of his own in which he touched upon the difficulties of transition periods and provided a general analysis of the current predicament. Noting that the American presidential elections attract attention from the whole world, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kaymak tried to explain what awaits us. Noting that Democratic Candidate Hillary Clinton’s defeat was a global suprise Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kaymak provided a reminder that the electoral college played a role Trump’s victory. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kaymak noted that Trump’s victory will lead to polarization underlining international worry about the effects of Trump’s victory.
In the final part of the panel, Prof. Dr. Sözen asked whether or not Trump’s victory is part of a trend of populist politics, in line with other events such as Brexit and the Colombian referendum. The American presidential election is an important event worldwide because the politics of an American president has global effects.
