Institute of Governmental Studies | Choosing the President 2008

EVENT SPONSORS, DATE & LOCATION

This event will take place on Friday, September 19, 2008. "The American Presidency at War" is co-sponsored by the Institute of Governmental Studies and the UC Berkeley School of Law.

All events (unless otherwise noted) will take place in the Lipman Room, Barrows Hall (8th Floor), UC Berkeley. → map

Note: MCLE credits will be available for attendance at this event.

EVENT SCHEDULE

Breakfast

8:45 am - 9:15 am

Continental breakfast and welcoming remarks

PANEL 1: War and Presidential Politics

9:15 - 10:45 a.m.

Chair: Terri Bimes (Senior Lecturer in Political Science, UC Berkeley)

Panelists:

Matthew 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

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)

Luncheon Speaker

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

Chair: Daniel Farber (Sho Sato Professor of Law, UC Berkeley School of Law)

Panelists:

Philip Bobbitt (Herbert Wechsler Professor of Jurisprudence, Columbia Law School)

William Howell (Associate Professor of Public Policy, University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy)

Stephen Krasner (Graham H. Stuart Professor of International Relations, Stanford University)

Stephen Skowronek (Pelatiah Perit Professor of Political and Social Science, Yale University)

Keynote Address

4:00 pm - 5:30 pm

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

Please note: The keynote panel is closed to the press and off-the record.

Introduction: Christopher Edley (The Honorable William H. Orrick Jr. Distinguished Chair and Dean, UC Berkeley School of Law)

Speakers:

Ken Mehlman (Managing Director & Head of Global Public Affairs, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.; former White House Director of Public Affairs, 2001-2004, and Chair of the Republican National Committee, 2005-2007)

John Podesta (President and CEO, Center for American Progress and former Chief of Staff to the President, 1998-2001)

Reception and Dinner

6:00 - 8:30 pm
(by invitation only)

UC Berkeley International House, Homeroom
2299 Piedmont Avenue, 2nd Floor, Berkeley, CA → map

For further details about this day's events, please contact:
Marc Levin
Assistant Director, Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
marcl@berkeley.edu

Keynote Speakers

Ken Mehlman

Ken Mehlman is Managing Director and Head of Global Public Affairs at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co., LLP. Mr. Mehlman was the campaign manager of President George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign and White House political director in the Bush Administration's first term. Mr. Mehlman was the 62nd chairman of the Republican National Committee (2005-2007).

John Podesta

John Podesta is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for American Progress. Mr. Podesta was the Chief of Staff in the Administration of President Bill Clinton from 1998 to 2001. Prior to that, Mr. Podesta was Assistant to the President, Deputy Chief of Staff, and senior policy adviser on government information, privacy, telecommunications security and regulatory policy. Mr. Podesta also served in many positions for the legislative branch, including Counsel to Senator Thomas Daschle (1995-1996) and Counsel on the Majority Staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee (1979-1981).

Event Location

Lipman Room, Barrows Hall (8th Floor), UC Berkeley

Map (click image for more details)

Event Overview

By bringing together former government officials, leading legal scholars and political scientists with a range of backgrounds and perspectives, this conference hopes to present a systematic, balanced analysis of the proper place of the president in the political system. The conference itself will examine what role the courts, Congress, and the public have played in checking presidential actions historically, and what role they should play in the Iraq War and beyond in a world where the opponent in a military conflict may not be a sovereign state. We plan to move the debate over presidential power well beyond the conventional discussion of whether we have an "imperial presidency." The conference will include three panels, a luncheon speaker, and a keynote panel.

Previous Events in Series

Click here for a complete list of prior events in the Choosing the President 2008 series, as well as links to webcasts.