Keynote address: An argument on behalf of a stronger U.S. presidency

Abstract

...Today I’d like to speak about presidential power, a topic that has stood at the very center of my research interests over the last decade. But unlike my previous forays into this topic, today’s will take a distinctly normative turn. Rather than assess how much power presidents in fact wield when they issue unilateral directives, exercise military force abroad, or leverage war to influence the domestic policy agenda—topics, all, that I have written on at some length—today I want to reflect upon how much power presidents should have—and I want to argue that they should have a good deal more than they currently do...