The effect of one-party control on America’s constitutional democracy will be discussed at a special event organized by the UO’s Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics.
A panel of experts on social movements, the media, the courts, state governments, the presidency and Congress will address the issue March 8 with “Checks and Balances in the Age of Trump.” The free event takes place at 7 p.m. in Room 156, Straub Hall.
The event wasn't originally on the Wayne Morse Center’s schedule for the year, according to co-director Rebecca Flynn. However, the rising concern on campus and in the community over President Donald Trump’s use of executive power, and his interactions with the courts and the media, convinced her that a forum was needed for experts to address those issues and for community members to ask questions.
“The mission of the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics is to bring students, scholars, activists, policymakers and communities together to discuss issues affecting Oregon, our nation and the world,” she said. “We had to organize something.”
In a short time, the center pulled together a panel consisting of:
- Stuart Chinn, UO law professor specializing in constitutional law
- Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum
- Dan Tichenor, Knight Chair of Social Science and director of the Wayne Morse Center’s Program for Democratic Engagement and Governance
- Hector Tobar, assistant professor of journalism at UO, best-selling author and New York Times op-ed writer
- Kelley Weigel, executive director of the Western States Center and community organizer
“This panel will provide clarity regarding the extent and limits of executive power, as well as the role of the judiciary, Congress, the states, the media and the public in checking presidential overreach,” said Tichenor, who will serve as moderator. “No conversation could be more timely.”
Learn more at waynemorsecenter.uoregon.edu.
—By Abbie Stillie, Wayne Morse Center