Photo by Zeyu Zhao ‘27. From left to right- Professor Mehdi, Professor Hilton, Professor Mitchell, and Professor Fernandes Anderson.
By Kiera McLaughlin ’26, Lilly Glass ’27 and Sydney Wiser ’27
Global Editor | News Editor | Staff Writer
On Wednesday, Feb. 28, Mount Holyoke students and community members gathered in Hooker Auditorium to attend a McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives panel. The event, titled “Democracy’s Global Test: Reflections on the Year of Elections,” aimed to explore threats to democracy, important elections and their international impact in the “biggest election year in history.”
The panel featured four Mount Holyoke professors: Chair of the Politics Department and Associate Professor Cora Fernandez Anderson, Assistant Professor of Politics Adam Hilton, Assistant Professor of History Abhilash Mehdi and Assistant Professor of International Relations and Politics Christopher Mitchell, each of whom discussed elections in a different area of the world.
The event was moderated by the McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives Director and the Ruth Lawson Professor of Politics Kavita Khory, who began with a reading of the Mount Holyoke College Land Acknowledgement.
Professor Hilton spoke first about the upcoming U.S. presidential election. He divided his presentation into three categories: the candidates, the electorate and the outcome. For each category, Hilton addressed the questions of what is old, what is new and what is uncertain.
Hilton told the audience that the 2024 election will likely be a rematch of the 2020 elections, with President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump going head to head. This will be the first presidential rematch since 1956. Hilton also discussed how, if Trump wins the Republican nomination, this presidential election would be the first where a candidate is under criminal indictment.
He explained that the Supreme Court was hearing a case that would determine whether Trump is ineligible to run under the 14th Amendment’s disqualification clause after his involvement in the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. The Supreme Court has since ruled that Trump is eligible to remain on the ballot.
Section 3, which houses the disqualification clause, of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, reads:
“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
Hilton highlighted electoral trends like the increase in youth voter turnout and addressed certain issues that have affected voter turnout, including the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, and the United State’s stance on Israel.
Hilton touched on protestors who voted “uncommitted” in the Democratic primary in Michigan instead of voting for Biden. These voters were protesting the United States’ position on the war in Gaza. Hilton said that it is unusual for a foreign policy issue like the war in Gaza to have such an impact on elections.
“While Biden is moving more slowly in his realignment than many Moho students would like, the departure from past practices — small though it is — is profound and may portend the beginning of a long term repositioning of the US as [a] mediator in the ongoing conflict,” Professor Hilton said when asked about the influence of young voters on Biden’s actions regarding a potential ceasefire in Gaza in an interview with Mount Holyoke News.
Hilton ended his portion of the panel by emphasizing the significance of this election cycle. For both Biden and Trump, 2024 will be what Hilton describes as a “make or break” election. Trump could potentially go to prison if he is not elected, and Biden’s reputation will be permanently altered by a defeat to Trump. Regardless of the outcome, Hilton predicts that the election will be close.
Next, Professor Mitchell explained the “three buckets” of elections occurring in Europe in 2024. The first “bucket” is the largest election; this June, Europeans will vote in the European Parliament election, choosing who they want to serve in the lower house of the European Union’s legislature. Currently, what Mitchell described as “pro-system” parties are declining in popularity. Despite this, there will likely be “continuity” in the EU, and the European People’s Party may likely win.
The second “bucket” to watch out for is national elections. Mitchell focused on three: Portugal, Austria and Britain. In both Austria and Portugal, the nationalist right party has been gaining popularity, while in Britain, the center-left will likely outperform the center-right.
The last group of elections is the authoritarian “sham” elections. Mitchell placed particular emphasis on Russia, explaining that it is interesting that President Vladimir Putin barred his only opposition, Boris Nadezhdin, from running and allegedly had opposition leader Alexei Navalny killed in prison. He remarked that these are not the actions of a leader who feels secure.
Professor Fernandez Anderson focused her presentation on elections in Latin America. She noted several political trends in the region, the first being that, just like in Europe and the United States in recent years, incumbent candidates rarely win elections.
Anderson explained that since 2013, there has been a popularity shift towards right-wing political parties in the region. Additionally, people appear to have been losing trust in democracy and turning towards more radical parties as they feel that both the mainstream right and left are unable to create significant change.
Anderson expects Mexico to challenge these trends in its June election. The incumbent left-wing party will likely maintain power. This will be a monumental election. Since the nominees of the two foremost parties are both women, Mexico may have its first female president.
During Professor Medhi’s presentation, he discussed the electoral process in India through three popular political academic phrases: democratic deepening, non-electoral political participation and the decline of federalism. In the context of democratic deepening, he explained how democratic practices weave their way into social life, which has influenced the popularity of voting in rural India. Medhi remarked that India has a higher voter turnout than most other democracies around the world.
In an interview with Mount Holyoke News, Medhi said that the practice of democracy in India was formed differently than in other countries. “Democracy in many other parts of the world is what…you’d call democracy by demand, where people have demanded democracy and acquired the right to vote for themselves, as opposed to in India, India has always been classified as a democracy of command…”
Non-electoral political participation, which he explained was persecuted in India, made voting one of the only ways rural citizens can practice democracy. Each of these concepts is associated with the decline in federalism over the last decade, Medhi explained towards the end of his presentation. As institutional structures collapse and avenues for protesting are restricted, the nationalist parties in India have become increasingly powerful.
First-year and prospective international relations major Zi Jaravaza ’27 was one of the students who attended the panel. While she knew about some of the elections beforehand, she was not aware of many of the political trends happening in Europe. She also learned more about the rise of nationalist parties across the world and the impact that small countries’ elections can have on foreign policy.
“It’s important for everyone to be informed citizens and to have a general knowledge of world news and the impacts it can have on various countries…” said Jaravaza. “No state is an island and internal politics can be very impactful to international relations.”
When Mount Holyoke News asked what Mount Holyoke students can do to combat the nationalist right beyond voting, Professor Hilton stressed that “Moho students [should] think carefully about what democracy means to them. Elections, of course, are part of most definitions of democracy, but they are not sufficient on their own….”
Hilton continued, “When we broaden our understanding of democracy to include more than just voting in elections, we can see how many of the things we're already doing — fighting for equal rights, making sure we have a sustainable relationship with the environment, preventing or curtailing war — are essential parts of protecting and enhancing democracy in the United States.”