Former Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias will teach a political science course at Northwestern in the fall about the systematic challenges campaigning brings to good governing. The course, titled Campaigning vs. Leading, focuses on the question of whether our system of electing political leaders is antithetical to good governing. Since the announcement on Monday, there has been criticism of NU’s decision to hire Giannoulias, raising questions about his spotty political background qualification to teach college students. However, despite Giannoulias’ background and evident biased association with the topic of the course, inviting the former Senate candidate to teach at NU will be an invaluable experience for students. Frankly I applaud him for having the courage to face students’ criticism and concerns, particularly in a small group where he cannot easily avoid pressing questions.
Giannoulias, who lost the congressional election even when Obama flew in from Washington to support his Chicago campaign, has been widely criticized by opponents and former supporters about the scandals associated with his family’s bank and the conflicts during his role as state treasurer. Even bloggers on NU Intel complained that hiring Giannoulias is simply adding to the list of professors with scandalous backgrounds in the likes of Bailey and Protess. But despite the issues, he’s managed to take his loss and turn it into an opportunity to teach, something Giannoulias says he has always wanted to do, according to an interview with Crain’s Chicago Business.
The course Giannoulias constructed will focus on the case study of his own campaign against Sen. Mark Kirk in 2010, and may also touch on the 2008 presidential campaign. Regardless of the possibility that Giannoulias may be promoting an underlying political agenda to gain support among college students, NU students can still benefit from the opportunity to question him and learn from his first-hand experiences. Giannoulias will be teaching in an environment that excludes the media spotlight and relieves him from the public pressures to avoid confrontation, allowing him to be more frank about his political career. I know students who have interned both for Sen. Kirk and Giannoulias, and inviting these students to take a course on the campaign they worked on, or even for the candidate they supported, is a rare opportunity that shouldn’t be passed up simply because of the frequent criticism.
The 15-student seminar can foster in-depth debates around the issues of campaigning and the gradual development of professional politicians. Most professors in seminars incorporate guest lectures, BUT Giannoulias’ personal connections to local and national lawmakers, pollsters and political consultants, which he plans to invite, can provide students with a greater variety of primary sources who have worked on different aspects of a relatively recent campaign. Criticism of Giannoulias’ personal and political background aside, the course could provide a unique opportunity for students engage the content and case studies at an intellectually challenging level.
Vasiliki Mitrakos is a Weinberg sophomore. She can be reached at [email protected]
