Park University Hosting Constitution Day Discussion on How the Presidential Election Will Impact Public Policy

Aug. 26, 2020 — Park University’s annual Constitution Day Lecture will feature a conversation on “The 2020 U.S. General Election: Public Policy Implications in January 2021.” The discussion will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 23, starting at 3 p.m. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s Constitution Day event will be held virtually at park.edu/constitutionday.

Park University faculty members Matt Harris, Ph.D., and Jack Adam MacLennan, Ph.D., both assistant professors of political science, will discuss the importance of the upcoming U.S. presidential election in November for both domestic and international politics.

“Though it sounds trite following the tumult of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the 2020 presidential election will directly impact the country’s future in numerous ways,” MacLennan said. “Inequality, populism and stasis drove the political debate in 2016. But, in 2020, the election will occur in a radically different environment.”

“Domestic politics have been re-cast following the resurgence of Black Lives Matter protests, America’s failure to contain the spread of the coronavirus, and a precipitous disruption across all sectors of the economy that is both without precedent and difficult to project forward,” he added. “Internationally, U.S. influence and presence in Europe is eroding, China’s actions in Hong Kong have brought the worst period in U.S.-Chinese relations since President Richard Nixon and tensions are now higher in U.S.-Iranian and U.S.-North Korean relations. This will not be an issues-driven election so much as an exercise in definition: What will the U.S. be in this new, changing, and perhaps increasingly unstable world?”

Constitution Day, or Citizenship Day as it is also called, is federally mandated for all institutions of higher education that receive federal funding. The legislation was enacted in 2004 and implemented by the U.S. Department of Education in 2005. It celebrates the adoption of the U.S. Constitution and those who have become U.S. citizens.

The Constitution Day Lecture is presented in partnership with the National Archives at Kansas City.