Constitution Day celebrated at UW with panel discussion on elections

To mark Constitution Day in the United States, the American Democracy Forum, housed in the University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Political Science, will hold a faculty panel discussion on constitutional issues in U.S. elections.

The discussion, which is open to the public, will take place Monday, Sept. 17 from 6:30-8 p.m. in the Wisconsin Idea Room of the Education Building, 1000 Bascom Mall.

Participants include Professors David Canon, Kenneth Mayer, Katherine Cramer Walsh and John Zumbrunnen, all of the political science department. They will lead a discussion about the place of elections in the U.S. Constitution and in American political history, and of important constitutional issues in contemporary electoral politics, including campaign finance, voter registration and redistricting.

“The goal of the American Democracy Forum is to encourage conversations about the principles of American political thought and the ongoing practice of American democracy,” says Zumbrunnen, the forum’s director. “In the midst of a very interesting election season, we think that gathering to discuss how the Constitution shapes our electoral politics is a great way to mark Constitution Day.”

The American Democracy Forum is affiliated with the Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles and History, which is providing support for the Constitution Day event as part of its Constitution Day Initiative. This year, 41 separate JMC-sponsored events will be held at colleges and universities around the country, exploring the centrality of constitutionalism to understanding the American experience, past and present. Many of the nation’s top scholars from a variety of disciplines will participate in the programs, including members of Congress and the judiciary at the state and federal levels.