Essays Topical framing essays guiding the 2023 conference discussions How to fix the presidency Miller Center Director William Antholis writes that presidents have become more powerful—and they also are more prone to failure On transparency and presidential accountability Transparency is necessary for presidential accountability to work, write Bob Bauer and Jack Goldsmith The problem of vacancies and confirmation delays Valerie Smith Boyd explains how and why the Senate confirmation process must be sped up The rise of the strongman presidency Extraordinary unilateral executive power poses a threat to democracy, warn William Howell and Terry Moe Presidential nominations: What about competence? Bring peer review back into the presidential nomination process, urges Elaine Kamarck Electing the president: The people's power Kyle Kondik writes that a true national vote is an obvious reform—but would be hard to achieve The continuing necessity for bipartisanship Frances Lee demonstrates how bipartisan support is indispensable for routine and major laws What Americans still want from government reform Seven trends should guide bureaucratic improvements, according to Paul Light Partisanship, polarization, and the administrative state Sidney Milkis and Rachel Augustine Potter write that the presidency itself has become a polarizing institution Changing the unwritten rules of presidential leadership History proves that extraconstitutional norms shift only when the president decides and the country agrees, according to Michael Nelson Presidents versus the Supreme Court Protecting each branch’s constitutional role preserves checks in the short run and balance in the long term, argues Barbara A. Perry Emergencies, Congress, and the executive Saikrishna Prakash clarifies three ways Congress could limit how and when presidents use emergency powers
