Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Interviewing Dr. Kamil Zwolski: Professor of International Politics turned Edupreneur

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Kamil Zwolski

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Interviewing Dr. Kamil Zwolski: Professor of International Politics turned Edupreneur

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Global Views 360

Publication Date

December 30, 2020

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https://globalviews360.webflow.io/articles/interviewing-kamil-zwolski-professor-of-international-politics-turned-edupreneur?fec94e1b_page=22
Dr. Zwolski speaking on the security implications of Brexit, Warsaw, 2019

Dr. Zwolski speaking on the security implications of Brexit, Warsaw, 2019.

Today we talk with Kamil Zwolski, PhD, who is Associate Professor in International Politics in the UK and who recently launched MyGlobalPolitics.com.

Q: Kamil, what is the idea of MyGlobalPolitics?

Kamil: The idea is to explore how the Internet can open up new opportunities for learning International Relations and related topics, such as international security, geopolitics or the role of China. On the one hand, there are people who are interested in what’s going on in the world and would like to explore that topic in more depth. But on the other hand, they are not planning to study it at a university. There are also people who do study International Relations at a university and want some extra resources to do better and get better grades. The website also offers help to those who need help with their job applications, university applications, PhD proposals, policy papers and other projects on International Relations.    

Q: Is there a market for educational products in an academic niche?

Kamil: That’s what I am finding out. It is true that most people who want to sell educational products, such as online courses, go for one of the three big niches: making money, getting fit or dating/relationships. But I am an academic and an expert on International Relations. And that’s what I want to do. I also like the world of online education and entrepreneurship. In that sense, I am what is sometimes called an edupreneur.

Q: What do you do for your full time job?

Kamil: I am Associate Professor in International Relations at one of the leading UK universities. I am a published author with hundreds of citations on Google scholar, including two peer-reviewed books. I am also a passionate educator and a Senior Fellow of the UK’s Higher Education Academy. All it means I am serious about improving my teaching skills and making sure students learn stuff when they work with me.

Q: What are your hopes and plans for MyGlobalPolitics?

Kamil: I see the future of education as developing alongside two parallel routes. One route will be the familiar system of higher education institutions. Contrary to what some predict, I don’t think universities will go away in any foreseeable future. Over centuries, they have accumulated enough legitimacy to be seen as undisputed pillars of how people go about getting more advanced knowledge. Granted, universities - like all institutions - have to adapt and some will do that better than others. But as a category of institutions, they will continue to exist.

Then there is this other route, which we already see, but which is nowhere near its full potential. And that’s online education. We see some well-established players in that field, such as Udemy, but there is much scope for greater diversity within that category of services. The big players will stay there and may get even bigger, as more people choose online as a way to learn new stuff. But in addition to those large players, individual edupreneurs will be building their own little communities within their areas of specialism. And that’s where I see MyGlobalPolitics - a community of learners interested in International Relations, who want to get in-depth knowledge on the subject or who have some projects they want to work on. That’s my ambition for this platform.

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February 4, 2021 4:46 PM

Electoral Processes in the US: Electing the President

The USA electoral process is a complex one; caucuses and primaries, followed by national conventions, general elections, formation of the electoral college and the selection of the president. Each step of this process has a lot of subtleties, which vary widely from state to state.

Caucuses and Primaries: This is the initial step of the selection of president. This stage of choosing occurs within a political party, where the party picks the candidate to rally behind.

In the state “Primary”', the registered members of political parties cast votes to allocate delegates for the presidential nominees of their parties. In some of the states this is done through caucuses, where groups are formed behind various potential candidates and there is discussion and persuasion between various groups. Republican party allocates all the delegates directly through primary or caucus, however the Democratic party allocates some Super-Delegates over and above the directly elected ones. These selected or allocated delegates are sent to the national party convention to represent their nominees.

In the process occurring between the primaries and caucuses to the selection of the potential electors is decided entirely by the party. The democrats, after the 1968 democratic convention, made a formal mechanism to reduce power of party leaders over the selection process and ways to represent minorities in the electors. This, however, backfired for the party as the delegates selected by primaries voted according to candidates and not the party, which led to the 1972 democratic Presidential candidate to win in only one state. The rules were then reformed and the concept of Super-Delegates was introduced. The Republican party also followed a somewhat similar trajectory, but did not impose as many restrictions on the delegate selection process, and never took measures to include the minorities.

National Conventions: Each parties’ delegates then choose a final presidential nominee at a national party convention. The nominee picks another person, who would be the vice president in the case the nominee wins. Here, there can be pledged or unpledged delegates; pledged ones are bound to support the potential candidates they chose in the previous round, while the unbound, or superdelegates can support anyone they choose.

Electoral College: After each of the parties have selected their presidential candidate, the candidate campaigns across the country to gain favor from the general public. There are speeches, rallies, debates, and other outreach activities, in which the candidates promote themselves. Meanwhile, the parties select some respective potential electors in each state, which are the people who get the last vote in the selection of the president. Each party forms a slate of potential electors according to the state..

General Election:After this, the general election occurs, in which the public votes for a president. However, the public does not directly vote for the president; they vote for the slate of electors for that political party for that state.

After the general election, the Electors are appointed to the state in two ways.. Electors from all the states then form the electoral college, which is the body that votes for the president. The electors are not legally bound to vote for the party they are pledged to, but can be fined or disqualified if they defect. Throughout USA history, though, more than 99% of the electors have voted as pledged.

The electoral college presently has 538 electors and the candidate who wins 270 or more electoral votes, wins the Presidential election.

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