Provide for the Common Defence: Rebalancing Constitutional War Powers in the 21st Century

Abstract

The Constitution's framers designed a new form of government that sought to prevent monarchial tendencies and distribute power while ensuring vigorous execution of the enumerated powers. The framers paid particular attention to the distribution of war powers. To assuage fears associated with the English monarch, the framers placed the preponderance of enumerated war powers in the legislative branch, including the power to declare war, and limited the executive branch to one - commander-in-chief. The changing nature of the world following the nuclear conclusion to World War II enabled the executive to dominate the Constitution's war powers distribution. Congress must act collectively to correct the imbalance.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 13, 2015
Accession Number
ADA630841

Entities

People

  • William H. Burks

Organizations

  • National Defense University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Congress
  • Department Of Defense
  • Foreign Relations
  • Governments
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Law
  • International Organizations
  • Law
  • Military Operations
  • National Governments
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Second World War
  • Treaties
  • United States
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Strategic Security Studies