Canberran Claire Gunton is among six ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences students who will make the trip of a lifetime from January to February to better understand the American political system.

Claire, an ANU part-time student and full-time Commonwealth public servant, will head to Washington in January for the university’s annual internship program.

The Bachelor of International Relations student works in a policy role and says she’s excited about the upcoming opportunity, and eager to see what the experience has in store.

“I work at arm’s length from politics in my current role, so I am interested to see how policy is affected by political considerations in the lead up to the Congressional and presidential elections,” Claire says

“I haven’t done anything like this before. Because I am a part-time student, I haven’t engaged in a lot of what the university can offer. But this seemed like an opportunity too good to pass up.”

Lach Forrester, a second year Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Law double degree student, says he was attracted to the internship because of his longstanding interest in the interaction of politics and the law.

“I would prefer to be placed with a US Senator because the Senate ratifies treaties and also confirms judicial appointments,” he says.

“It does a lot of the roles that engage with the law.”

Anneke Meehl says her preference is to work with a Congressional committee. During her studies she took a compulsory course on US politics and was astounded to learn that a significant number of bills die in the committee stage.

“It was amazing that a body of six or seven people in the committee from both sides of politics can determine what passes and what doesn’t,” the third year Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Policy Studies double degree student says.

“Hundreds of people would have put time and effort into a bill, it would have gotten constituent support, and it simply dies in a room.

“It’s incredible that that’s how policy happens in that country.”

Anneke has dual Australian and US citizenship and has been preparing for her trip by subscribing to the political news servicePolitico. Lach is also subscribed to American publications and has been reading a variety of US media sources and watching the Republican party candidate debates.

The six students will be kept busy during their six weeks experiencing Washington’s winter. They have been asked to keep notes about their trip, work on a research project and then give a presentation for their fellow students on campus during Semester 1, 2016.