In honor of Constitution Day on Sept. 17, the Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) and Leader Education and Development hosted guest speaker Jason Mazzone.
Mazzone, professor of law at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, talked about the importance of unity, the Constitution and how to deal with political polarization.
Mazzone has a background in teaching the Constitution and law.
His work has appeared in prominent legal journals, helped him teach around the world, and led him to meet people such as then-Illinois State Senator Barack Obama.
Mazzone opened up his speech talking about the decline in civic America since the 1950s and what that means to the general public.
“[There is] a reduction in all kinds of activities in which people had previously forged social connections,” Mazzone said.
He said this decline in connection can impact the health of the public and of democracy.
Mazzone said that evidence of political polarization is seen in the news almost every day.
“We [are] increasingly detached from each other but increasingly attached to people who are like ourselves,” Mazzone said.
According to Mazzone, the future of political polarization can be shifted based on how the public deals with each other, and college students want to make a change.
“College campuses are polarized in the same way as the country,” Mazzone said. “At the same time, students long for more level-headed engagement.”
Despite the need for change, Mazzone said students censor themselves on campus because of concerns of hate.
Mazzone highlighted that the public’s trust in the federal government is now at a record low.
“A majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the direction the country is taking,” Mazzone said.
Even with the low reviews, Mazzone said that Americans still hold the Constitution in high regard.
Professor of civic engagement and assistant director of assessment at the CCE, Rachel Waring-Sparks, said that the Constitution can be used for the country to strive.
“The Constitution is a powerful but imperfect document that I would like to see society pay more attention to,” Waring-Sparks said. “[It’s] meant to strive to go for continuous improvement.”
Graduate student of health sciences Keara Gray emphasized that the Constitution holds a lot of information on what rights you have.
“It is important to continue educating yourself on democracy,” Gray said. “You have to take every opportunity to educate yourself.”
The question of unity came up often. Mazzone believed that unity starts with who you are friends with.
“People [students] hang out with … they all believe the same thing,” Mazzone said. “They are not willing to make an effort to reach across the political aisle.”
Mazzone said that the Constitution holds some power to create unification.
“The Constitution cultivates and requires connections among the public,” Mazzone said. “It can promote pluralism.”
Listeners held Mazzone’s speech in high regard.
“It gave me a sense of reassurance,” Gray said.
“It’s important to have those conversations about what continuous improvement looks like for American society,” Waring-Sparks said.
Mazzone encourages students to take some time to try and understand the Constitution.
“From beginning to end, [it] has a lot of value,” Mazzone said.
“It doesn’t answer everything,” Mazzone said. “But it gives you a good starting point for answering difficult questions.”
