On september 19, 2017 Dr. Julian E. Zelizer came to Stockton to present his topic of constitutional democracy in the era of Donald Trump. He posed a question “Is the state of American politics currently facing a constitutional crisis?” Dr. Zelizer is a political analyst and a historian who used his knowledge to study the current president, Donald Trump as well as his administration, and then used the information to compare to past presidents and their parties as well as success. He found that Trumps style in dealing with foreign policies and aggressive leadership is not very different from the way presidents such as Reagan, Johnson, Kennedy, Clinton, and Bush lead our country.
One of the most interesting subjects Dr. Zelizer talked about was that there will be a democratic congress by 2019. This change will be due to Trump continuously causing republicans to stand up against him. Not only was it informational to hear what is to be expected in our near future, but I gained a much better understanding of how our government works and the effects our president has on individual people as well as mass groups of leadership, such as our congress in our country.
Today’s education system seems to skip, or only lightly touch on teaching about our government branches and politics. Dr. Zelizer spoke about our President’s relationship with congress and how his power can be, and should be, checked or even belittled by congress. Understanding that students are not as involved as they should be, Dr. Zelizer suggests students at Stockton and all over our country become more engaged. Ways that Dr Zelizer suggests getting involved are through voting, attending debates, and participating in civic activity.
Constitution Day at Stockton was very enlightening as well as thought provoking. Dr. Zelizer lead the audience through an analysis of the issues our government has been faced with under President Trump, as well as the importance of foreign policies. With all the recent negative news it was important that someone could shed some positive light on our country’s current situation. By concluding with questions the audience was able to get involved in the conversation and clear up any misconceptions. Overall I felt like I learned a lot about the Presidency and the students of Stockton can now have a better grasp on American politics.