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Upcoming Events

Information about events to be hosted or sponsored by the Center for Congressional & Presidential Studies in 2024.

Why Aren't the Presidential Candidates Talking Much About Climate Change?
Thursday, October 17, 2024 8:30am-3:00pm
Family Founders' Room, School of International Service


Why is climate change not a bigger issue in the 2024 electoral campaign? The Inflation Reduction Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) Act were some of the nation's most successful legislative achievements of the last decade, and they were all initiated also by the executive branch. And yet neither presidential candidate is making these policy achievements, responsible for creating thousands of jobs to spend billions of dollars, prominent topics of their campaigns.

While President Biden and congressional candidates from both parties are likely to address the economic development, job creation, and infrastructure improvements brought by these initiatives, they do not often mention part of the president's motivation for his leadership on these matters, the effort to manage climate change. In the "thick" of the campaign, this conference seeks to take a step back and ask broader questions about political polarization, party politics, and one of the most under-considered campaign issues of our time. Sponsored by American University's School of Public Affairs (SPA), The Center for Environmental Policy (CEP) and the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies (CCPS.) Co-sponsored by The Center for Environment, Community, and Equity (CECE) and the Washington College of Law's Program on Environmental and Energy Law (WCL/PEEL).

Featured panels include:
The Evolution of Climate Politics and Policies in the US featuring:
Dan Fiorino, American UniversityÌýCEP
Dana Fisher, American University CECE
Moderator/Discussant Raul Garcia, EarthJustice and PEEL

Climate Change and Broader US Voter Enthusiasm featuring:
Charlie Cook, The Cook Political Report
Parrish Bergquist, University of Pennsylvania Department of Political Science
Moderator/Discussant Jan Leighley, American UniversityÌýSPA

"Climate Populism": Could Climate Ever Again be Bipartisan? featuring:
Bob Inglis, founding director, republicEn and George Mason University
Joe Bonfiglio, Environmental Defense Fund
Moderator/Discussant Liz Suhay, American University SPA

Roundtable: Making Climate More Salient for More Electoral Constituencies featuring:
John Paul Mejia, American University and Sunrise
Russell Armstrong, US Climate Action Network and PEEL
Todd Eisenstadt, American University SPA
Moderator/Discussant: Ron Elving, American University SPA
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The 7th Annual Barbara Sinclair Lecture with Prof. Eric Schickler
Tuesday, November 19, 2024 at 6pm ET
NT01 (Ceremonial Classroom) at the Washington College of Law


TheÌýCenter for Congressional and Presidential Studies at SPA will holdÌýthe 7th Annual Barbara Sinclair Lecture with Professor Steven S. Smith on Tuesday, November 19.

Eric Schickler is the Jeffrey & Ashley McDermott Professor of Political Science and co-Director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He studies American politics, with a focus on the U.S. Congress, American political development, political parties, and polarization. He is the author of three books which have won the Richard F. Fenno, Jr. Prize for the best book on legislative politics:ÌýDisjointed Pluralism: Institutional Innovation and the Development of the U.S. CongressÌý(2001),ÌýFilibuster: Obstruction and Lawmaking in the United States SenateÌý(2006, with Gregory Wawro), andÌýInvestigating the President: Congressional Checks on Presidential PowerÌý(2016, with Douglas Kriner; also winner of the Richard E. Neustadt Prize for the best book on executive politics). His book,ÌýRacial Realignment: The Transformation of American Liberalism, 1932-1965, was the winner of the Woodrow Wilson Prize for the best book on government, politics or international affairs published in 2016, and was co-winner of the J. David Greenstone Prize for the best book in history and politics from the previous two calendar years. He is also the co-author ofÌýPartisan Hearts and Minds, which was published in 2002. He is currently completing a co-authored book manuscript, with Paul Pierson,ÌýMadison Upside Down: The Rise of Nationalized Polarization and the Crisis of the American Constitutional Order.ÌýSchickler was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2017.ÌýÌýHe received his B.A. from New College of Florida and his Ph.D. from Yale University.

Through this annual series, CCPS honors the late political scientist Barbara Sinclair, a renowned expert on Congress, by hosting a lecture by a prominent Congressional scholar. Previous hosts have included in 2023,ÌýÌýin 2022,ÌýÌýfrom Brown University in 2021,ÌýÌýfrom the University of Michigan in 2020,ÌýÌýfrom Princeton University in 2019 andÌýÌýfrom George Washington University in 2018.

Registration information will be available soon.