The American Presidency at War
September 19, 2008
Co-sponsored with the UC Berkeley School of Law
Lipman Room, 8th Floor, Barrows Hall, UC Berkeley → map
Does the president need more power abroad and at home in the post-9/11 world, or has the president already become too dominant, overriding the constitutional separation of powers? What role should the courts, Congress, public opinion and the press play in checking presidential actions in the Iraq War and beyond in a world where the opponent in a military conflict may not be a sovereign state? What if the state of war seems likely to persist indefinitely? This conference seeks to examine these critical questions in an expansive way, drawing together scholars from a number of different subfields in political science as well as constitutional law and history.
The conference will include:
Three panels, Luncheon speaker, and Keynote Address
Ronald Reagan, 1983
Photo/Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, CA
Event Schedule
Continental Breakfast
8:45 am - 9:15 am
PANEL 1: War and Presidential Politics
9:15 - 10:45 a.m.
This panel examines how the president's standing with the public is affected by wartime actions. How has partisanship historically impacted evaluations of a president during wartime? Does the casualty rate reduce a president's job approval rating and reelection prospects? Does the nature of the particular war affect these outcomes?
Chair: Terri Bimes (Senior Lecturer in Political Science, UC Berkeley)
Panelists: Matt Baum ( Marvin Kalb Professor of Global Communications and Professor of Public Policy, Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government)
Adam Berinsky (Associate Professor of Political Science, MIT)
John Mueller ( Woody Hayes Chair of National Security Studies, Mershon Center, Professor of Political Science, Ohio State University)
Discussant: Gary Jacobson (Professor of Political Science, UC San Diego)
PANEL 2: The Imperial Presidency and the Founding
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
What kind of powers does the Constitution grant the president during times of emergencies? How did the Framers envision the legislative and judicial branches checking presidential war power?
Chair: Jesse Choper (Earl Warren Professor of Public Law , UC Berkeley School of Law)
Panelists: Louis Fisher (Specialist in Constitutional Law, Law Library of the Library of Congress)
Jack Rakove (W. R. Coe Professor of History and American Studies and Professor of Political Science, Stanford University)
John Yoo (Professor of Law, UC Berkeley School of Law)
Discussant: Gordon Silverstein (Assistant Professor of Political Science, UC Berkeley)
Hosted Lunch
12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Guest Speaker: Jon Cohen (Director of Polling, Washington Post)
"War and Terrorism as Issues in the 2008 Election"
PANEL 3: Rethinking Presidential Power in the 21st Century: A Roundtable Discussion
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Do conditions in the post-9/11 world mandate a change in our thinking about the proper scope of presidential action? What lessons can we apply from historical exercises of presidential power to the Iraq War?
Chair: Dan Farber (Sho Sato Professor of Law, UC Berkeley School of Law)
Panelists: Philip C. Bobbitt ( Herbert Wechsler Professor of Jurisprudence, Columbia Law School)
William Howell (Associate Professor of Public Policy, University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy)
Steve Krasner (Graham H. Stuart Professor of International Relations, Stanford University)
Stephen Skowronek ( Pelatiah Perit Professor of Political and Social Science, Yale University)
Keynote
4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Introduction: Christopher Edley (The Honorable William H. Orrick Jr. Distinguished Chair and Dean, UC Berkeley School of Law)
Speakers:
Maria Echaveste (Lecturer in Residence, UC Berkeley School of Law and former White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Assistant to the President, 1998-2001)
Ken Mehlman (Managing Director & Head of Global Public Affairs, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and former White House Director of Public Affairs, 2001-04)
“The View from the White House in Time of War”
Reception and Dinner
(by invitation only)
UC Berkeley International House, Homeroom, 2299 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley → map
6:00 - 8:30 pm
George Herbert Walker Bush, 1991
Photo/Bush Presidential Library, Texas A&M
For further details about this day's events, please contact:
Dr. Terri Bimes, UC Berkeley Travers Political Science Department
bimes@berkeley.edu
Prior Events in This Series
Click here for a complete list of prior events in the Choosing the Presidency series, as well as links to webcasts.