Meriwether Lewis, the Air Force, and the Surge: The Problem of Constitutional Settlement
23 Pages Posted: 28 Mar 2008 Last revised: 20 Sep 2013
Date Written: November 1, 2008
Abstract
This essay, presented as the Higgins Lecture at Lewis & Clark Law School, addresses the issue of the settlement of constitutional authority in areas where judicial intervention is unlikely. Prompted by debates over the constitutionality of congressional efforts to limit the "surge" of forces in Iraq, the question addressed is the development of constitutional division of authority between the President and Congress through the process of institutional accommodation. The essay places the debates over the surge in the context of other constitutional conflicts that also defined the roles of the political branches in areas relatively immune from judicial pronouncements.
Keywords: Constitution, Separation of Powers, Military Authority
JEL Classification: K10
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation