US Election Watch 2016: Predicting the unpredictable

Part of the series

When

6.00pm–7.15pm

17 May 2016

Where

The University of Sydney

Type

Public forum

The 2016 race has proved to be one of the most unpredictable elections in modern times, with a host of larger than life characters presenting striking challenges to party elites and proving the pundits wrong over and over again. How did we get here and what issues are likely to define the next six months until Election Day? And who is most likely to win the White House?

To discuss these important issues and how they might affect Australia, the US Studies Centre hosted a panel discussion with: 

  • Sarah Ellen Graham, lecturer in US Foreign Policy at the United States Studies Centre
  • Professor Leonie Huddy, professor of Political Science at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and visiting fellow at the United States Studies Centre
  • Professor Simon Jackman, Chief Executive Officer at the United States Studies Centre
  • Stephen Loosely, Chair of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and a former Labor senator and president of the Australian Labor Party.

Moderated by Tom Switzer, research associate at the United States Studies Centre, the speakers tackled issues that have defined the campaign thus far and what can be expected from the candidates as Election Day edges closer.

Predicting the Unpredictable
 
 

Featuring

  • Dr Sarah Graham
    Dr Sarah Graham

    Dr Sarah Ellen Graham was previously a lecturer in US foreign policy at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. She has also been a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Southern California’s Center for International Studies.

  • Professor Simon Jackman
    Professor Simon Jackman

    Professor Simon Jackman was Chief Executive Officer of the United States Studies Centre from April 2016 to May 2022. Between 1996 and 2016, he was a Professor of Political Science and Statistics at Stanford University. Jackman's teaching and research centres on public opinion, election campaigns, political participation, and electoral systems with special emphasis on American and Australian politics.

  • Tom Switzer
    Tom Switzer
    Presenter, ABC Radio National

    Tom Switzer was a senior fellow at the United States Studies Centre until March 2017. He is a presenter on the ABC’s Radio National and a columnist at Fairfax publications.

  • Professor Leonie Huddy
    Professor of Political Science , State University of New York at Stony Brook

    Leonie is a Professor of Political Science at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She studies political behavior in the United States and elsewhere through the lens of intergroup relations, with a special focus on gender, race, and ethnic relations. Her recent work extends that focus to the study of partisan identities in the United States and Western Europe.

  • Stephen Loosley, AM
    Stephen Loosley, AM
    Non-Resident Senior Fellow, United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney

    Stephen Loosley served in the Australian Parliament during the Hawke and Keating Governments where he chaired both the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade and the Senate Regulations Committee.

 

Part of the series

Election Watch

Since 2008 the United States Studies Centre has been helping make sense of the US presidential elections with a series of events featuring Centre experts and visitors.

View all events in this series