The Political Cycle

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The Political Cycle is a weekly show that looks at the similarities and differences in global politics. Our hosts – based out of the US, UK and India – are joined by top political journalists and researchers from around the world to cross-pollinate and cross-examine different political cultures and systems.

Join Emily Tamkin, Rohan Venkat and Tom Hamilton as they explore three very different, but interlocking, political systems.

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Episodes

How do the Indian elections actually work?

With only a few weeks remaining before India goes to the polls, we thought it was a good moment to get Tom and Emily to interrogate Rohan about how the elections actually work in India. What is the structure of the voting? How does such a large, unwieldy electorate go to the polls and maintain the integrity of the vote? How long will it take for a result to reveal itself? And what parallels are there in the British and American electoral systems? You can now subscribe to the PREMIUM version of E...

Mar 28, 2024•26 min

The Slovakian Parallels: do returning leaders and complacent oppositions reign the world over?

The Slovakian election is just round the corner, so we decided to dial up Dalibor Roháč, a Washington-based Slovak to talk about the elections and the return of former Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini. Then the gang look at the parallels between what's happening in central Europe and their own elections. Oh, and we now have a date for the Indian elections! So, Rohan talks us through that announcement while Tom and Emily catch us up on goings on in Westminster and DC. Subscribe below to our contri...

Mar 21, 2024•28 min

Immigration Rhetoric: how is discourse about migrants shaping elections?

With news emerging this week that a 2019 citizenship law in India, intended to exclude Muslims from the naturalisation process, is shortly to come into action, the Tricycle gang gather to discuss how rhetoric about immigration is shaping these elections. With Trump confirmed as the Republican nominee, will we see a repeat of the anti-immigration rhetoric that typified the election in 2016? Meanwhile, in the UK, a major Tory donor has opened up difficult questions about racism within the British ...

Mar 13, 2024•32 min

Money in Politics: can candidates spend their way to success?

This week's episode of The Election Tricycle comes in the wake of Super Tuesday. But that's not something we'll dwell on for too long, given that it only really confirmed what we already knew. Instead, we're talking about money in politics. Are the BJP still the anti-corruption party they once ran as? Is British politics stifled by its funding rules? And is there a growing trend towards smaller donors in the head-spinning world of American campaign financing? Rohan, Tom and Emily discuss. Subscr...

Mar 07, 2024•31 min

The Impact of Gaza: how are voters responding to war in the Middle East?

The conflict raging in Gaza between Israeli forces and Hamas militants is having repercussions around the globe. On this week's edition of The Election Tricycle , Emily Tamkin talks listeners through the Michigan primaries, where Joe Biden faced significant dissent over his support for Israel, while Tom Hamilton discusses how the questions of both antisemitism and Islamophobia have, once again, reared their heads in British politics. And where does India, a major player in a neighbouring region,...

Feb 28, 2024•28 min

The Russia Question: how is war in Ukraine impacting global elections?

On this week's episode of The Election Tricycle, Rohan, Emily and Tom are discussing the impact that Russia is having on global elections, in a week which saw the death of opposition hero Alexei Navalny. Is there sufficient support domestically in the United States for Joe Biden's continued financial backing of President Zelensky's war effort? And how does India, at a geographic crossroads, fit into the picture? Subscribe below to our contributors' Substacks: ET Write Home by Emily Tamkin India ...

Feb 22, 2024•32 min

Coming of Age: is Joe Biden too old to be President?

This week Emily, Rohan and Tom are looking at age. A new report has cleared President Biden over the handling of classified documents but offered a damning series of judgments over his fitness for high office. Is he simply too old to be President? And is this the week that he lost the election? And how does he compared to Narendra Modi, in his 70s, and Keir Starmer (61)? We also find out what happened in Pakistan's elections (discussed last week). Subscribe below to our contributors' Substacks: ...

Feb 15, 2024•30 min

Corruption and Money: how political attacks are landing in India, the US and UK

The Election Tricycle is back, and this week Rohan is discussing the accusations of corruption Prime Minister Modi is levelling at opposition leaders in India. How do these compare to the rhetoric being waged by President Trump in the US? Well, Emily is on hand to elucidate that point. Meanwhile, in the UK, money is also on the menu: namely Rishi Sunak's enormous wealth and how that plays in a political system accustomed to well-heeled statesman. Then, in the premium section (free this week for ...

Feb 07, 2024•45 min

Nitish Kumar's U-turn, Tory Trump love-in, Greg Abbott's border war

On this week's episode of The Election Tricycle, Rohan discusses the latest U-turn from Nitish Kumar, chief minister of Bihar, who has switched his support to Narendra Modi's BJP. Then Tom discusses why so many British politicians are falling over themselves to gas up Donald Trump ahead of his likely return to the White House, and Emily takes on a visit to the Texan border, where Governor Greg Abbott finds himself single-handedly raising the salience of immigration in American political discours...

Jan 31, 2024•43 min

DeSantis's humiliation, Modi's religious 'coronation', and a damp squib of a defenestration in the UK

Welcome to The Election Tricycle. This week we're looking at Ron DeSantis's departure from the race to be the GOP's Presidential candidate, and the humiliation of his volte face with regards to backing Donald Trump. Then we're off to Ayodhya, where Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has consecrated a new Hindu temple on the site of a razed mosque. Is this likely to further inflame religious tensions in the country? And finally, in England, there's a rather uneventful attempted coup as Simon Cla...

Jan 24, 2024•33 min

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