More than 30 experts discuss implications of increasingly exclusive executive control of foreign affairs
“The conference is bringing together scholars and practitioners from different disciplines to examine this central question: How can one preserve the constitutional norms of a division of responsibility between the president, the Congress, and the courts in foreign policy?” says Jeff Taliaferro. Photo: Shutterstock
The U.S. Constitution makes clear in Article 1, section 8, that Congress has the power to declare war. The last time Congress did that was June 4, 1942, declaring war on Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania, following declarations of war against Japan, Germany, and Italy in 1941.
Of course, the U.S. has fought a number of wars in the intervening 84 years—Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran, among others. Has Congress abdicated its powers in foreign policy?
That’s one of the questions that will be examined at the U.S. Foreign Policy and the Separation of Powers conference, focusing on law, power, and democratic accountability in a changing international order. It will be held Sept. 24–25 at Tufts, sponsored by the Center for Expanding Viewpoints in Higher Education, Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, and The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
“The conference is bringing together scholars and practitioners from different disciplines to examine this central question: How can one preserve the constitutional norms of a division of responsibility between the president, the Congress, and the courts in foreign policy?” says Jeff Taliaferro, professor and chair of political science and a conference participant.
“What we have seen, especially over the past 25 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks and even going back into the Cold War, is an accumulation of power by the president, and a real diminishment of the role of Congress as a player in foreign policy, indeed an abandonment by the Congress of its oversight role,” he says.
The conference opens with a panel discussion, which is open to the public, about Congress, the presidency, and foreign policy authority at 6 p.m. on Sept. 24 at ASEAN Auditorium. Panelists will be Frances E. Lee, professor of politics and public affairs, Princeton University; William G. Howell, professor and dean, School of Government and Policy, Johns Hopkins University; Douglas L. Kriner, Clinton Rossiter Professor in American Institutions, Cornell University; and Gene Healy, senior scholar, Reason Foundation, joined by moderator Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times.
The following day’s roundtable discussions and fireside chat are limited to participating speakers; students, faculty, and staff from Tufts and other universities; and Tufts alumni.
Among the participants are political scientists, historians, legal professionals, journalists, and scholars from think tanks.
Advance registration is required for all events.
The Role of the Courts
One key question the conference is focusing on is whether U.S. foreign policy is being conducted as envisioned by the framers, subject to a system of checks and balances in which there is no one single decision maker.
“Or has the United States over a period of 200 years moved away from that model of pluralistic decision making into a new era in which truly pluralistic decision making is no longer possible?” asks Michael Glennon, professor of constitutional and international law at The Fletcher School and one of the conference organizers.
If that’s the case, he says, “if we have moved in effect to an autocratic form of foreign policymaking, why is that, and can the earlier constitutional scheme be recovered?”
Glennon is moderating a panel discussion on the role of the courts in foreign policymaking. One topic will be the War Powers Resolution passed by Congress in a bipartisan vote in 1973. It requires presidents to consult with Congress before introducing U.S. armed forces into hostilities, but there’s never been a judicial opinion on whether key provisions in the War Powers Resolution are constitutional, and the Resolution has never been enforced.
“One of the big questions is if it is time for the courts to get off the sidelines and play a much more active role in specifically defending the congressional role,” Glennon says. “This is a very central question for our democracy.”
Please note: Advance registration for the U.S. Foreign Policy and the Separation of Powers conference is required.
