Trump, Episode II: The Imperial President Strikes Back

This event has been co-organised with CUSP - the Centre on US Politics

With President Trump back in the White House, the power and limits of the presidency are once again under intense scrutiny. Serious concerns remain about the adequacy of the checks and balances in the US system. In this Policy and Practice seminar, held in collaboration with the UCL Centre on US Politics, join Prof. Andy Rudalevige, author of The New Imperial Presidency, along with Dr. Rachel Potter and Dr. Molly Reynolds, as they examine the strength of the administrative, congressional, and judicial mechanisms that could curb—or enable—President Trump’s vision of an imperial presidency. 

Meet the speakers

Prof. Andy Rudalevige is the Thomas Brackett Reed Professor of Government at Bowdoin College and an honorary professor at UCL affiliated with UCL’s Centre on US Politics (CUSP). His work centres around American political institutions, with an emphasis on the modern presidency, the executive branch, and interbranch relations. His books include the prize-winning By Executive Order: Bureaucratic Management and the Limits of Presidential Power (2021), which examines the role of the wider executive branch in the formulation of Executive Orders, and The New Imperial Presidency (2005), which examines the post-Watergate growth of executive authority. 

Dr Rachel Potter is Associate Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia and a Senior Fellow at the Miller Center for Public Affairs. Her research focuses on American political institutions, with a particular emphasis on the executive branch and the bureaucracy. She is the author of the award-winning book Bending the Rules: Procedural Politicking in the Bureaucracy (2019).  Her current research focuses on the politics of contracting out in the bureaucracy.

Dr Molly Reynolds is a senior fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. She studies Congress, with an emphasis on how congressional rules and procedure affect domestic policy outcomes. She is the author of Exceptions to the Rule: The Politics of Filibuster Limitations in the U.S. Senate (2017), which explores the creation, use, and consequences of the budget reconciliation process and other procedures that prevent filibusters in the U.S. Senate. 

Chair: Dr Thomas Gift is Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of CUSP in the UCL Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy. 

This event will be recorded and the video will be uploaded to our YouTube channel.

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Accessibility

• The corridor outside the lecture theatre(s) is sufficiently wide enough (150cm+) to allow wheelchair users to pass.
• There is step free access into the lecture theatre(s).
• The door opening width(s) is/are 75cm+ for the lecture theatre(s).
• There are designated spaces for wheelchair users within the lecture theatre(s), located at the back.
• There is level access to the designated seating from an entrance.
• There is space for an assistance dog.
• There is a hearing assistance system for the lecture theatre(s).
• There is not a visual fire alarm beacon in the lecture theatre(s).

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