Who Decides When America Goes to War?

About this episode

Richard Epstein discusses the shifting authority of war powers from Congress to the presidency in the United States.

Who actually decides when the United States goes to war—Congress or the president? Richard Epstein traces the Constitution’s original division of war powers from 1789 to the present and explain how practice, politics, and modern warfare have steadily shifted authority toward the presidency. Along the way, they explore declarations of war that never happen, authorizations that never expire, emergency actions that become routine, and why Congress so often prefers not to decide at all. Professor Epstein argues that America now operates under two constitutions—the one we wrote and the one we live with.

People in this episode

Guest: Richard Epstein

Topics covered

• war powers
• Constitution
• presidential authority
• Congress
• politics
• modern warfare

Keywords

• war powers
• Constitution
• Congress
• president
• modern warfare
• declarations of war
• authorizations

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Civitas Institute at the University of Texas at Austin

Places: United States

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