Essays Topical framing essays guiding the 2025 conference discussions Conference on the American Presidency: Overview Miller Center Director William Antholis explains how presidents have become more powerful, more partisan, and less popular—and how we could promote a more effective and responsible presidency Shared powers: Anatomy of our present discontents Executive-centered partisanship has dangerously weakened the constitutional role of Congress over the past century, writes Sidney M. Milkis 'The instruments with which to work': OMB in its second century Issues raised throughout the history of the Office of Management are back with new urgency, warns Andrew Rudalevige Independence and the executive branch President Trump has defied political norms established to protect federal agencies from partisan interference, argue Barbara Perry and Sarah Wilson Presidents and emergency government Russell L. Riley describes when U.S. presidents have modified institutional practices to address national emergencies in the past The 'ratchet effect': Emergency powers and the crisis of institutional faith The expanding use of presidential emergency powers is an effect of the decline of public faith in the nation’s core democratic institutions, warns Allan Stam Legislators in Tudor America Philip Wallach reconsiders what it means to be a successful member of Congress. The evolution and limits of friction in presidentially declared emergencies Friction in the U.S. government can produce better policies—but emergency powers now empower frictionless government, according to Ashley Deeks and Kristen Eichensehr Trump 2.0 and the administrative state: A personnel-driven revolution? Rachel Potter examines how likely President Trump’s cuts to agency staff are to survive a future administration
