U.S. Presidential War Powers

This study provides a balanced and scholarly analysis of the war powers controversy, a controversy as old as the Constitution and as current as the conflicts in the Persian Gulf and the Balkans. The work examines the debates among the Founding Fathers, Congressional and United Nations resolutions, communications between the Executive and Congress, as well as other issues surrounding the use of military force in foreign conflicts. The author considers the impact on the war powers controversy of the ways in which warfare has changed: from conventional to electronic and from major ground force actions to swift air strikes and rapid response troop deployments. Particularly relevant is the author's examination of war powers in the present time of overall world peace but sporadic regional conflict, the context in which the struggle between Congress and the Executive over war-making limits and constraints continues. This work will be of interest to scholars and students alike in American government, politics, and military studies.

Sheffer deals with some of the oldest continuing constitutional problems confronting the American government: the judicial development of presidential war powers, potential constitutional dictatorship, and a wartime constitution. What enhances these problems is the very cryptic language presented by Article II itself. First, the generalities of Article II are read expansively enough to cover specific presidential actions, while a theory of inherent powers tends to justify the means. This combination of action and theory, Sheffer asserts, presumes that ends and means are determined only by the president. The end result is that presidential action takes on the characteristics of constitutional power.

By exploring important issues that have received little attention before now, this edited collection breaks new ground in our understanding of America's highest office. The volume brings together established scholars and promising young researchers to open new questions about our most important political institution.

This study examines how presidents shape the way people think about political issues, and it explores the limits that political ideology places on presidential action. Tracing the interplay between political philosophy, policymaking, and party politics from Franklin Roosevelt to George Bush, the work looks beyond the typical focus on personality and political tactics to the underlying ideological significance of presidential philosophies and actions. It develops new concepts that lend historical and comparative perspective to current debates about the role of government in American society, and it presents a new way of seeing and interpreting the presidency.

With contributions by the leading presidency scholars, this book offers a comprehensive overview of the president's policy-making role and the ways this role structures the president's interaction with other institutions of government.

Noted experts examine America's power to go to war historically and recently, now that the Cold War has ended. They propose ways that the Congress and the president might develop a new working consensus for dealing with the use of military or paramilitary force in the future. This scholarly study of constitutional and statutory proscriptions, UN treaty and international obligations, and judicial restraints is essential reading for undergraduate and graduate students, law students, teachers, and professionals concerned with constitutional interpretation, the government's division of power, and war making.

This study examines the constitutional jurisprudence of the United States as it relates to US foreign affairs. Illumination is offered on topics such as relations between Congress and the President as they relate to the use of military force.

Use of military force without a declaration of war has been a weapon in the arsenal of U.S. presidents for the last 200 years. Force has become an increasingly more (relevant) foreign policy action in the post-Cold War world. This comprehensive resource approaches the study of the use of force from several theoretical approaches: the historical record, which includes regional analyses of Latin America/the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, the Middle East/North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa; the data sets that focus on the use of force; the international level, which includes democratic peace, multilateralism, and Yugoslavia; domestic politics, which includes Congress, the media, and public opinion; executive-congressional relations, including political and constitutional issues; ethics; and theories of decision making on the use of force.