The recent re-election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency has raised a number of questions in all corners of the world, but what does it mean for Canadians?

A panel of experts from Brock’s Department of Political Science, with a special guest from Queen’s University, will share their perspectives at a public panel discussion next week.

Associate Professor Blayne Haggart, who co-organized the event, says that while political scientists cannot predict the future, their close study of political systems, trends and behaviours help them “see around corners” in times that are, in his view, literally unprecedented.

“Political scientists spend their lives studying these issues, and we’ve seen since the election that those who study politics and policy have a very bleak view of what’s going on when compared to government officials or regular pundits,” Haggart says.

Assistant Professor Danielle McNabb, who organizes the department’s Speaker Series, says the goal of this event and the series overall is to create opportunities for the Brock community to learn from experts about “topical and relevant political issues.”

“I think a lot of people have questions and worries about what the election might mean for Canadians, Americans and, more broadly, for global politics, so the Department of Political Science wants to provide some answers,” she says. “Particularly in an era of misinformation and disinformation and lots of confusion about what’s true and what’s not true, our hope is that the panel can help others make sense of what’s to come.”

Speakers will include:

• Associate Professor Blayne Haggart: “Canada-U.S. relations and the climate emergency”
• Associate Professor Stefan Dolgert: “How Trump will use the ‘authoritarian playbook’ to make the U.S. less democratic and ensure that Republicans remain in power for the foreseeable future”
• Assistant Professor Liam Midzain-Gobin: “The ‘grievance-ification’ of politics”
• Skelton-Clark Postdoctoral Fellow Caroline Dutton (Queen’s University): “The United Nations, multilateralism and Trump’s potential impact”

No registration is required, and all are welcome to attend the event, which Haggart hopes will help illuminate some of the complexities of how politics south of the border can impact those at Brock and beyond.

“People aren’t used to ‘unprecedented-ness’ — people live their lives expecting things are going to keep going as they went yesterday and that they’ll keep going like that tomorrow,” says Haggart. “Truly seismic changes do not happen that often. But academics are trained to try to understand how everything fits together, and that’s what this panel will explore.”

What: Unpacking the United States’ Authoritarian Turn
When: Wednesday, Nov. 20 from 3 to 4:30 p.m.
Where: TH 246