Who has the power and right to declare war in a democracy?

Who has the power and right to declare war in a democracy?

From Rear Vision — How History Shaped Today by ABC

May 15, 2026 · 30 min

About this episode

This episode explores the lack of parliamentary power in declaring war in democracies like Australia and the US, and the challenges of reforming war powers.

It may surprise you to know that the Australian parliament has no real say over whether the country goes to war. In the United States its effectively the same, with analysts saying the US Congress has now basically ceded its war powers to the president. A process, by the way, that began long before the arrival of Donald Trump. In this episode we look at how that happened and why calls for war powers reform have had so little success. Guests: Dr Russell Berman – Professor in the Humanities, Stanford University Dr Sarah Percy – Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Queensland Dr Sarah Burns – Rochester Institute of Technology Dr Alison Broinowski - Australians for War Power Reform Dr Nicole Townsend - lecturer in War Studies – University of New South Wales, Canberra

People in this episode

Guests: Dr Russell Berman, Dr Sarah Percy, Dr Sarah Burns, Dr Alison Broinowski, Dr Nicole Townsend

Topics covered

  • war powers
  • democracy
  • political authority
  • US Congress
  • Australian parliament
  • war powers reform

Keywords

  • war declaration
  • democracy
  • parliament
  • US Congress
  • war powers reform
  • political power
  • international relations

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Stanford University, University of Queensland, Rochester Institute of Technology, Australians for War Power Reform, University of New South Wales, Canberra

Places: Australia, United States

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