Understanding the US Election System with Tim Naftali & Rhea Almeida
By NYU Office of Global Services and Rhea Almeida
In this two-part Explainer series, a historical context of the US 2020 elections is discussed by breaking down the complexity of American governance and political systems. Rhea Almeida, an NYU Wagner Review Contributing Editor and MPA candidate, and Tim Naftali, a CNN presidential historian and politics expert, aim to provide a historic view of the elections, the evolution of suffrage, and the framework of the Electoral College system. They also dissect the emergence of voting rights for different sections of the American society, and historic voter suppression mechanisms.
This podcast is also featured on Spotify and Apple Music.
Transcript
[00:00] Welcome from NYU Office of Global Services.
[02:02] Rhea Almeida begins facilitating a conversation with professor Tim Naftali about American democracy and elections.
Guest Speaker
Timothy Naftali, clinical associate professor of public service and a clinical associate professor of history, is the director of NYU’s undergraduate public policy program. The first federal director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, Naftali has served as an historical consultant to anumber if federal investigative and historial projects, such as the 9/11 Commission and the Interagency Working Group on Nazi and Imperiial Japanes War Crimes. The author or co-author of 5 books (and editor or co-editor of 8 books), Naftali specializes in presidential, international and espionage history. He is currently a CNN presidential historian and appears regularly in historical documentaries.
Facilitator
Rhea Almeida is second-year MPA international student at NYU Wagner hailing from Mumbai, India. In the past, she has worked in the fields of policy, advocacy, and development for a women’s working rights group in India. Prior to that, she worked as a TV news journalist in New Delhi. Her areas of interest include workers’ rights, gender equality, grassroot level advocacy and coronavirus response policy. In addition to being contributing editor for NYU Wagner Review, she serves as senator for the Wagner Student Association, and events chair for the Wagner Policy Alliance. She is also the co-founder of the ‘What’s up with Coronavirus Policy’ discussion group.Â
