Print this page Two "Gates" - Two Case Studies in the Abuses of Power

Watergate 1972-1974 USA and Partygate UK 2020-2022 have much in common. Richard Nixon was the first American President to resign in 1974 after he could no longer sustain the fallout from the revelations about the Watergate Hotel burglary in Washington DC. Most of his close White House associates landed in jail. Boris Johnson failed to survive the revelations about him and his government ministers constantly flouting the Covid restrictions imposed on the British population. The lies and attempts to coverup the scandals by both leaders contributed to their political and personal downfall.

DELIVERY MODE

• Face-to-Face

SUGGESTED READING

• Newspaper articles in The Guardian and The Mirror about the series of parties held by the PM and government ministers and public servants during lockdown and the impact of the ongoing revelations on the PM and the Ministry.
• Woodward, Bob, 2000, Shadow : Five Presidents and the Shadow of Watergate, Simon and Schuster, ISBN : 0684852632
• Woodward, Bob and Bernstein, Carl, 2016, The Original Watergate Stories, Audible Books, ISBN 1531815691

COURSE OUTLINES

• Background to the Watergate scandal 1992-1974, the Presidency of Richard Nixon and his resignation in 1974
• White House coverup about the Watergate burglary on 17th June 1972
• Disregard for COVID-19 restrictions placed on the entire population of the UK by the PM and the PM’s ministers during lockdown
• The “Partygate” Report by Susan Gray tabled May 2022 which led to the demise of Boris Johnson in September 2022
• Similarities and differences between the ‘gates’ as examples of abuses of power

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Gain an understanding of the recurring theme of abuses of political power in different historical periods and contexts
2. Consider immediate and longer term consequences of the two failed attempts at the coverup and obfuscation