Will Howell, University of Chicago

UPDATED SESSION with Election Results and Commentary! Today, political observers routinely spout all kinds of popular psychology to make sense of the rise of Donald Trump as a political phenomenon. There must be something about the man — his psyche, personal biography, unorthodox leadership style, or something else entirely — that explains how he captured the Republican presidential nomination and sent the Republican Party into a tailspin. In this seminar, we will explore the ways in which political institutions continue to shape and inform executive contests, both as they are played out in elections and governance. We will distill some basic pedagogical lessons for engaging students of American politics when so much media attention remains fixated on Trump’s Twitter feed.