Short Course: Anglo-American Politics in Transition: After Brexit and Trump

Anglo-American Politics in Transition: After Brexit and Trump

Kevin Hickson
Full Day, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Washington State Convention Center, Room 612

Recent years have seen unprecedented upheavals in both British and US politics. The 2016 referendum on continued membership of the European Union caused deep divisions, leading to two general elections, parliamentary gridlock and public demonstrations. Formal withdrawal was achieved in early 2020 and the trade deal announced on Christmas Eve, taking effect on 1st January 2021. Meanwhile in the USA the defeat of Donald Trump in November’s presidential election led to his calling the result into question and the storming of Congress.

Now, with both Brexit and the Presidential election resolved the aim of this one-day short course is to explain why these events happened and what the future holds.

The ‘special relationship’ between the UK and the US may be challenged as never before. President Biden has professed his support for the European Union and disappointment at Britain’s withdrawal. Several leading advocates of Brexit had pinned their hopes on a trade deal with the US under the seemingly more sympathetic presidency of Mr Trump. The change of presidency may pose an obstacle to obtaining a trade deal going forward.

The future of US and UK politics is open to speculation in other ways. Some commentators on both sides of the Atlantic argued that the Trump presidency and Brexit were expressions of ‘populism’. Some hope that the apparent rejection of populism in the US with the election of Joe Biden will also spell the end of populism in Britain. However, for the moment at least, cultural conflicts remain deep in both countries.

Recent events also bring into new focus the role of both the US and the UK in geo-politics- what form will Anglo-American relations with China and Russia take? Will there be renewed interest in a global environmental agreement?

Finally, both countries have been severely challenged by the global pandemic, being among the worst affected countries in the developed world. Will this lead to a new social and economic settlement in both countries?

In addition to panelists invited by the BPG, we are open to proposals from other scholars whose research is appropriate to the topic. Interested participants should send individual paper or panel proposals to the conference organizer, KEVIN HICKSON (University of Liverpool, UK) at k.hickson@liverpool.ac.uk no later than 1st June 2021. Please include an abstract (200 words maximum), institutional affiliation, and e-mail contact. For full panel proposals, please make sure to include a brief panel abstract in addition to the individual paper abstracts, and full contact information for all panel participants. Volunteers to serve as discussants and panel chairs would be greatly appreciated. Further information can be found at the British Politics Group website www.britishpoliticsgroup.com.

NOTE: Accepted participants are requested to become members of the British Politics Group and must register for the full APSA conference in order to register for the short course. Short course registration involves a small fee that is collected by APSA.