Talk on: How American Presidents Are Chosen

Abstract: The United States of America are now engaged in a campaign for the U.S. Presidency which is among the most exciting of these contests in many years, and which has attracted world-wide interest. There is a general belief among non-Americans - and indeed among many Americans - that the U.S. President is elected by a democratic or "popular" vote. This is true to some extent, as it is true that American football is played with a ball and goalposts, just like soccer (sic.), and that an understanding of soccer can give one at least a sense of the game of American football. However, the actual mechanism of U.S. Presidential elections is unique in the world. It is a procedure that would defy logical derivation from any simple universal axioms of democratic government, but rather is reflective of aspects of American history, culture and national character In this presentation I describe that process - which is stated very clearly in the U.S. Constitution, and has changed remarkably little since 1792 - review its practical consequences since the election of 1948, and show how it affects the "primary" campaign in which the nation is now engaged.

About The Speaker: Charles Clark, a regular visitor to the Centre for Quantum Technologies, works for a U.S. Government agency near Washington, DC. He is an avid fan of America's greatest sport, presidential politics, which is currently enjoying one of its most exciting seasons in many years. Dr. Clark has no academic qualifications whatever in history or political science, but is an active amateur explorer of American political culture and its relation to other aspects of national character, such as specatacle, sports and religion.