Putin and the PresidentsVladimir Putin’s clashes with American presidents as he’s tried to rebuild the Russian empire. Over five administrations, the miscalculations and missteps of American presidents, culminating in Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Distributed by PBS Distribution.
Clarence and Ginni Thomas: Politics, Power and the Supreme CourtAs controversy erupts around Clarence and Ginni Thomas, the inside story of their path to power. How race, power and controversy collide in the rise of the Supreme Court Justice and his wife – a couple reshaping American law and politics. Distributed by PBS Distribution.
Films on Demand
Has China's Power Peaked?: A DebateSince China's communist government began opening the country to capitalist investment and development in the 1980s, China has become an industrial powerhouse, rivaling the United States in manufacturing output and economic might. In 2000, China's gross domestic product—the total amount of goods and services a nation produces—was just 12 percent that of the United States. By the early 2020s, this figure had risen to 77 percent. China has also expanded its military and increased its role in global affairs, leading many observers to call the 2000s "the Chinese century." Indeed, some predict that as China continues to invest heavily in infrastructure, technology, and defense, it will overtake the United States as the world's dominant economic and military superpower. But others question whether China can maintain this phenomenal growth and upward trajectory. Its zero-COVID policy jolted the nation in the early 2020s and exposed major supply chain vulnerabilities within its technology sector, they note, and the Chinese system is facing significant economic headwinds, a slowing pace of innovation, and a heavy debt burden. China's problematic demographic profile—a low fertility rate coupled with an aging population—could reduce the size of its workforce, they argue, and create mounting frustrations among its younger people. These pressures, they contend, could challenge the nation's autocratic, communist government, undermine the Chinese economy, and force the country to retrench. Has China's power peaked?
Was January 6th an Existential Threat to American Democracy?: A DebateOn January 6, 2021, supporters of President Donald Trump (R, 2017–21) stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., to stop the certification of votes from the 2020 presidential election that Joe Biden (D) won. Threatening to hang the vice president, rioters broke windows, stole property, and vandalized offices. Seven people ultimately died as a result of the events of January 6th, and hundreds were soon arrested. "The insurrection was an existential crisis," President Biden said in an address to Congress in April 2021, "a test of whether our democracy could survive." Was President Biden correct in his assessment of the insurrection, or was he exaggerating the danger it posed to the United States and its system of government? Was January 6th an existential threat to American democracy?
More Streaming Videos from Films on Demand
America by the Numbers - The New DecidersAmerica By The Numbers with Maria Hinojosa takes a look at power and politics, tracking new voters that are getting engaged in the political process and exerting influence in towns and cities across this nation. This program presents surprising numbers and the gripping real-life stories behind population change, demonstrating how demography becomes destiny for politics in the 2016 election and beyond.
Distributed by PBS Distribution.
American Philosopher John RawlsIn Rawls "A Theory of Justice," he proposes several principles that would impove the situation of a least advantaged in society.
The Constitution and Foundations of GovernmentWhy do written documents figure so prominently in the early history of the United States? There are plenty of explanations, but they all boil down to the philosophical ideas that drove the American colonies to declare their independence—and a profound awareness that those ideas should be inseparable from the rule of law. This program explores the origins, outbreak, and outcome of the American Revolution, the major political texts which grew out of that struggle, and their ongoing significance today. Topics include the heavy British taxation that helped spark the Revolution; the spirit and structure of the Declaration of Independence; the short-lived Articles of Confederation; the drafting and ratification of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights; and their implications for U.S. government as we know it today. A viewable/printable instructor’s guide is available online.
Dog Whistle PoliticsHost Bill Moyers introduces his guest, legal scholar Ian Haney López whose book, "Dog Whistle Politics," explores the hidden racism that uses code words to convince people to vote against their own economic interests. Prof. López identifies this as strategic racism.
GerrymanderingGerrymandering is defined as the carving up of a state into districts in a way that allows one political party to gain more clout than another. It has also been called the most effective way to manipulate an election’s outcome short of outright fraud. Focusing on the fight to pass Proposition 11—drafted to give redistricting power to a bipartisan rather than legislative group—this documentary explores the ethical implications of gerrymandering and looks at some historical examples of how the practice has been used. The experience of assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, who was redistricted out of his own territory by a threatened incumbent; the dramatic response of House Democrats to proposed redistricting in Texas; and how redistricting impacted Barack Obama’s political career are all explored with insights from political figures, legal experts, journalists, and activists. With Lani Guinier, of Harvard Law School, and then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Humanitarian Intervention Does More Harm Than Good: A DebateThe international community currently faces a global refugee crisis and mass atrocities in Iraq, Myanmar, Syria, Yemen, and other countries. How should the West respond? Proponents of humanitarian intervention—the use of force to halt human rights abuses—argue that the world’s most powerful nations have a responsibility to protect innocent people around the planet. Beyond saving lives, they contend, intervention deters would-be abusers and ensures global stability, thereby strengthening peace, security, and order. But opponents argue that humanitarian intervention is a thinly veiled form of imperialism that imposes Western values on other nations and undermines state sovereignty and independence. It's also often ineffective, they add, and can increase death tolls and worsen the conflicts it sets out to resolve. Does humanitarian intervention do more harm than good?
The MarxistsKarl Marx’s revolutionary ideas literally changed the world. His far-reaching analyses and theories have inspired millions of people to become politically active. After the collapse of many socialist regimes, Marx’s popularity waned, but the financial crisis of 2008 has caused a re-emergence of his ideas. On the 200th anniversary of his birth, this documentary explores changes and developments in society today that find their roots in Marx’s thinking. From the Russian Revolution, the founding of the German Socialist Party, the long trek of Mao Zedong in China, the implementation of socialism in Eastern Europe after World War II to the revolutionary movements in Latin America and Cuba, Karl Marx may have been the most influential thinker of all time.
Propaganda: The Manufacturing of ConsentPropaganda: The Manufacture of Consent is a revealing documentary about how public relations grew out of wartime propaganda—and a portrait of one of the key architects of the field, Edward Bernays.
What Makes a Populist?—Bloomberg QuickTakesPopulist politicians like U.S. president Donald Trump and Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte have rapidly destabilized the status quo in countries around the world. This Bloomberg QuickTake looks at the rise of global populism and explains what makes a populist.
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