Head's Newsletter 12 February 2021

"Tiffinomics”, the School’s student-led humanities blog, ran its first ever essay competition before Christmas, focusing on, perhaps, one of the most turbulent US presidential elections of all time. 21 incredibly impressive essays were submitted by students from Year 11 to Year 13, with entrants having the option to choose questions aimed at exploring the election from historical, political, economic and legal perspectives. The 4 winners of the competition have had their essays published on the Tiffinomics website, available for all Tiffin students to read. Bulcsu Diossi’s essay entitled Should the popular vote be prioritised over the Electoral College? issued a robust defence of the Electoral College. Bulcsu creatively constructed the argument for the necessity of diluting democracy so as to avoid the exercise of excessive and tyrannical power, whilst also impressively arguing for the limitation of presidential power to a ‘constitutional last-resort’ in order to ameliorate current constitutional arrangements. Mikela Persson Caracciolo’s essay skilfully tackled the question, Which was the most significant US election ever?. Employing three yardsticks of significance, Mikela concluded that the 1980 presidential election, which pitted Reagan against Carter, was the most significant due to its role in the entrenchment of social conservatism within the GOP, as a result of greater evangelical influence, and the subsequent impact this had on the rise of Trumpism.

Lottie Fry’s essay entitled Following the monetary advantage enjoyed by Bloomberg’s presidential campaign, is it time for congress to revisit campaign finance reform? methodically argued that the inherent flaws of the current system, of which Bloomberg’s campaign was just a symptom, require a congressional remedy. Concluding that such reform is the only way to truly ensure the integrity of the democratic system in the US. Shirav Medepalli’s essay What does Amy Coney Barrett's appointment to the US Supreme Court mean in relation to the future of human rights? employed a ‘positive rights framework’ to systematically demonstrate the potential threat posed by Coney Barret’s originalist judicial philosophy, exploring the possible impact of this on a range of areas from healthcare to women’s rights. All the submitted essays were truly a pleasure to read, and we look forward to launching more of these opportunities in the future! The Tiffinomics Editorial Team