Why we chose these topics

 Hi everyone!

In this blog post I am going to share a little bit about why we chose these topics for US Senate this year!

The Ratification of CEDAW may seem like a niche topic, but we chose it due to its relevance both in the domestic and international sphere. While Senate committees are typically meant to focus on domestic politics, I believe that as an MUN conference it is integral for our debate to include the impact that the United States’ domestic politics has on the international community. In the case of ratifying CEDAW, the United States is in the minority in its withholding from ratification, yet the US is generally recognized as a leader in women’s rights. In fact, the United States has historically been very vocal in its support for women’s rights, even going so far as to criticize other nations for their treatment of women. Nevertheless, many of the nations which the United States has criticized have ratified CEDAW, which begs the question: why has the United States not? An answer to this can be found in the topic synopsis, but we chose this topic because it is crucial to understand the impact that domestic decisions can have on foregin policy decisions and perspectives. In addition, discussion regarding the effectiveness and necessities of human rights treaties are not commonly brought up in MUN conferences, so we wanted to bring special attention to that in our committee this year!

Our second topic, Alleviating Mass Incarceration, is a topic that is more commonly seen in US Senate committees, namely due to the importance of the topic. The United States’ incarceral system is notorious for its large size and horrible conditions, in addition to the limitations that are placed on previously incarcerated folks after their release from prison. In addition to unreasonably high bails, mandatory minimum sentences, and working for almost no wage while incarcerated, the United States continues to place harsh restrictions on these folks after their sentence is served. The lack of access to welfare programs such as public housing, food stamps, and unemployment make life after incarceration especially difficult, leading to higher rates of recidivism. Although this is just a brief summary of the problem, from this alone it is clear that there is no one root cause of mass incarceration, and we chose this topic for this exact reason. The solution can not just be getting rid of mandatory minimums, it has to be a robust solution consisting of a multitude of different policy decisions.