Date: Friday, September 19, 2008
Lipman Room (8th floor of Barrows Hall), UC Berkeley

Co-sponsored by: UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies and the School of Law

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. It is the culmination of the Institute of Governmental Studies and the School of Law’s year-long series, “Choosing the President: Campaigning and Governing in War and Peace.”

The conference will include:
Three panels, Luncheon speaker
Keynote Address

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8:45-9:15 a.m.: Continental Breakfast ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Panel 1: War and Presidential Politics
Panel Time: 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 (UC Berkeley)

Panelists: Matt Baum (Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government) John Mueller (Ohio State University)
Adam Berinsky (MIT)

Discussant: Gary Jacobson (UC San Diego)

10:45- 11:00 a.m.: Break

Panel 2: The Imperial Presidency and the Founding

Panel Time: 11:00 am-12:30 p.m.

This panel will seek to address the following questions. 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 (UC Berkeley School of Law)

Panelists: John Yoo (UC Berkeley School of Law)
Jack Rakove (Stanford University)
Louis Fisher (Specialist in Constitutional Law, Law Library of the Library of Congress)

Discussant: Gordon Silverstein (UC Berkeley)

Lunch: 12:30 - 2:00 p.m. (Hosted Lunch)
Guest Speaker: Jon Cohen, Director for Polling, Washington Post

“War and Terrorism in the 2008 Election.”

Rethinking Presidential Power in the 21st Century: A Roundtable Discussion

Panel Time: 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Key Questions of Panel: 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 (UC Berkeley School of Law)

Panelists: Stephen Skowronek (Yale University)
Philip C. Bobbitt (Columbia Law School)
William Howell (University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy)

3:30-4:00 p.m.: Break

Keynote Address:

4:00 – 5:30 p.m.
Lipman Room

Introduction: Dean Christopher Edley (UC Berkeley School of Law)

Speakers: Ken Mehlman and TBA

“The View from the White House in Time of War”