Political Science Professor to Present Constitution Day Lecture

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Teaching assistant professor Eric Button is to present the 2024 Constitution Day lecture at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17, in Giffels Auditorium.

"The U.S. Constitution provides a social contract that connects us, broadly, to a shared sense of purpose," Button said. "By the very nature of an oath to the Constitution and the requirement of it to assume office, such an oath pledges faithful adherence to that social contract, as well as faithful service to the people, to communities and to society at large."

Button's lecture, titled "Oaths to the U.S. Constitution: Service, Sacrifice, and Scandal" will cover how constitutional oaths can lead to scandal and whether those scandals make legitimate impacts on a person or institution's reputation. Among the case studies Button will review, he will explain how judges and justices, legislators, members of the U.S. armed forces, first responders and government administrators break their oaths and how those broken oaths affect our perceptions of constitutional integrity in the United States.

"For many reasons, people seek to trust in those who wish to serve, to lead and to assume responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of others. Inherently, such service often comes with great sacrifice, yet it is not immune to occasional scandals — claims of broken trust that may or may not be so," Button said.

Rick's Bakery of Fayetteville will provide cookies and coffee for the event, and questions are encouraged after the lecture.

Button (Ph.D., U of A, 2023) specializes in veterans' policy. He is a U.S. Army combat infantry veteran of the 10th Mountain Division. He has published in Armed Forces and Society, State Politics and Policy Quarterly, Energy Policy, Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology and the Journal of Rural Social Sciences. His work has been included in Auburn University's The Military Reach Review — a project that publishes and distributes research valuable to veterans and their families. In 2024, he won the U of A Political Science Department's Non-Tenure-Track Teaching Award.