11r1_UAFS_SPSU11:04r1_UAFS_SPSU11 6/10/11 7:45 PM Page 11
POLITICAL AFICIONADO:
Dr. Williams Yamkam “Growing up in Cameroon, I had this idea of America as the ultimate democratic system,” says Assistant Professor of Political Science Williams Yamkam. “My main reason for being here is that I just wanted to experience that, wanted to breathe the fresh air.” Yamkam came to the U.S. as a student in 2001, ultimately earning his doctorate at Wayne State in Michigan before coming to UA Fort Smith. Endlessly fascinated by American
KAT WILSON ’96
Q 5 politics, he attended both the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis and the Democratic in Denver in 2008. In an era of partisan dogma, Yamkam preaches the importance of an educated, critical electorate and does what he can to create it. “In the classroom,” he says, “you work toward that goal of just making people think on their own and not necessarily rely on what they hear.”
1
From your unique perspective, what’s the most striking thing about our politics?
be more able to keep their political leaders in check.
What is really inspiring to me is that here, no matter how intense the political debate is, at the end of the day people respect the rules and believe the political system can resolve those conflicts. In some African countries, you’ll have groups disagreeing over a political issue, and the next second, you see them taking up arms and fighting each other.
3
2
In an age of heavily biased media, how do you get the “real” news?
Just being aware of the possibility of bias, being aware that what you get from the media might not necessarily be true is a start. Now that we have a democratization of information—with talk radio, blogs, and so forth— you can at least find different perspectives. And based on your own analysis, you can come closer to the truth. In a sense, the decline in the trust of the media by the American people could be a good thing because it could at least galvanize news consumers to do more of their own homework. So we could wind up having a better citizenry that will
What’s the most interesting campaign you’ve ever followed?
The democratic primary between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama was one for the ages. When she lost in Iowa, all the pollsters, all the pundits said it was over. The day before the New Hampshire primary all the polls suggested she was going to lose it, too. But then at a town hall meeting someone asked her a question, and she teared up. Literally overnight, that reached democratic women and mothers in New Hampshire, and they stormed out to the polls. And she won the primary. It was a complete shock. No one had predicted that, and it wasn’t captured by any of the polls. Those are the types of races that are really fun to watch.
4
Does our system of government still work today?
When you read our founding documents, you just kind of marvel at the foresight the founding fathers had. They really put an emphasis on an educated citizenry to make
sure the system would remain vibrant. That’s very, very important, because at the end of the day, the voters are the boss and they need to know whether the person they hired to do x, y, and z is doing those things. If not, they need to fire him or her and hire somebody else. And you can’t do that by just sitting back and not paying attention to what’s going on.
5
Care to go out on a limb and predict who wins the presidency in 2012?
What I will say is that despite the fact that the economy is still shaky—usually a very bad indication for an incumbent—Barack Obama’s approval rating is fairly good. Now that doesn’t mean that he cannot be beaten. I think it all hinges on who the Republican Party nominates. They can’t come up with someone who can be easily discounted as far to the right or extreme—like Sharron Angle, who lost to Harry Reid in Nevada when she should have been a shoo-in. No one can predict at this point—the outcome may depend on some completely unforeseen factor—but Barack Obama is certainly vulnerable.
UA Fort Smith BELL TOWER
11