American politics debates I: Trump promises, NAFTA and the electoral college

The US has been the most powerful nation in the world for many decades. American politics has great importance not only for US citizens but also for most people around the globe. The policies and dictates from Washington usually have direct or indirect effects on many countries.
The inaugural speech of Donald Trump on 20 January 2017 was followed by millions of people inside and outside America. Many were happy, others were disappointed with the plans of the new President of the United States.

After our selection of online debates on animal rights and protection Today we launch a series of posts which compile some of the most interesting online debates on American politics. On The Best Debates we keep a neutral role. Our goal is not to support any specific political agenda but to invite people to engage critically with important issues through constructive public debate.

These are the first 3 debates we suggest:

• Will Donald Trump deliver on his promises?

Polls got it wrong. Very few predicted the victory of Donald Trump in 2016 US Presidential Elections. His controversial inaugural speech on 20 January 2017 has confirmed that the priorities of his administration remain the same which he anounced during his campaign. Basically he will prioritze American interests over any other consideration ("America First") even if that means introduce protectionist measures and reduce the economic and military cooperation with the US traditional allies. Throughout his campaign he had already pledged to “Make America Great Again.” On this online debate you can find out more and discuss the main policies heralded by Trump concerning people's empowerment, immigration, corruption, foreign policy, security free trade and NAFTA. Would you like Trump to fulfill his pledges? Join this poll and debate by clicking here.

• Is NAFTA good or bad for America?

NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) is a controversial trilateral agreement between Canada, Mexico and the United States. It was signed in 1993 aiming at eliminate promoting economic growth and eliminating trade barriers abetween the three North American countries.
But has NAFTA achieved its goals? On this debate you can also find out more about the advantages and disadvantages of this free-trade agreement. On the one hand, NAFTA has transformed the economy and promoted economic growth in many areas of these countries, increased trade, created jobs and lower the prices of imports. On the other hand, NAFTA has increased US trade deficit, has provoked the loss of manufacturing jobs due to relocation of production, and lead to lower wages in the US and exploitation of workers in maquiladoras. Do you think it is time to put an end to NAFTA or to modify the agreement? If you want to participate in this debate click on this link

• Should the US President be elected by popular vote or electoral college?

On 8 November 2016 the Republican candidate Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, through an indirect vote system, known as Electoral College. Once more (5th time in history) the President of the United States lost the popular vote. The democratic candidate Hillary Clinton obtained overall more votes than Donald Trump, however, she lost the presidency because of the distribution of votes. Is this Electoral college system fair? In US presidential elections voters cast their ballots to elect intermediaries, known as “electors”, who are those who will decide the winning ticket. There are currently 538 electors, representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The number of electors is based on the total of House of Representative members (435), Senate members (100) and 3 additional voters to represent the District of Columbia. If you want to know more about the electoral college and participate in this public discussion follow this link.

We hope you find our selection of debates interesting. Very soon we will offer you more topics of discussion about American politics.