The Brademas Center sponsors public lectures, symposia, conferences, roundtables and briefings that address the question of Congressional capacity for decision making -- whether, how and why that capacity has declined; and what measures can be taken by Congress to strengthen and enhance its ability to make good public policy. Events covering a range of policy and procedure issues take place in New York City, Washington, DC, and at various NYU international sites.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Robert Kaiser Discusses His New Book: So Damn Much Money
The National Press Club, Holeman Lounge
529 14th Street, NW, 13th Floor
Washington, DC 20045
Come join Robert Kaiser of the Washington Post discuss his new book, “So Damn Much Money: The Triumph of Lobbying and the Corrosion of American Government.”
The event will be held in the Holeman Lounge of the National Press Club. Doors will open at 6:30PM and the event will start promptly at 7:00PM. Following Mr. Kaiser’s discussion there will be a short Q&A session, ending with a wine and cheese reception and book signing.
Space is limited, and will be available on a first come, first serve basis.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Constitution Day
Kimmel Center for University Life - Eisner & Lubin Auditorium
60 Washington Square South - 4th Floor
Refreshments will be served!
Doors open at 11:40am - Refreshments will be available.
Over 220 years ago in Philadelphia, the framers of the Constitution set out to create a system of representative government that would united the 13 former British colonies under a Federal Government strong enough to defend its citizens and territory and pursue common national interests, but still not become so powerful as to devolve into tyranny.
Their solution was built into the very foundation of the new government with a series of checks and balances to prevent the President, the Congress or the Courts from accumulating so much power as to threaten the liberty of the citizens.
To celebrate the history of this living document, join a discussion between Tom Mann, an congressional scholar with the Brookings Institution and Norm Ornstein, a political scientist and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
Tom and Norm will discuss the "Rebalancing of Constitutional Powers of the Executive and Legislative Branches: A Status Report on the New Obama Administration.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Moving Forward: A Renewed Role for American Arts and Artists in the Global Age.
Puck Building - 2nd Floor Conference Center
295 Lafayette Street, 2nd Fl
Our purpose is to celebrate how the Art and Artifacts Indemnity Act has been a precedent of federal support for the arts on an international level for over three decades. To do this, in the spirit of renewed support for restoring the centrality of both the visual and performing arts on a national level, we hope to have a lively discussion to consider how it can be reinvigorated and enlarged for individual/private and governmental/public diplomacy initiatives, including how the Act can be expanded to better support the visual arts.
The information and suggestions compiled during the colloquium will be used to create a set of recommendations that will be sent to Congress for their consideration. We hope the colloquium will lead to further discussion in
- Welcome to Wagner (Rogan Kersh, Associate Dean of Wagner, NYU)
10:15AM - Welcome to Colloquium (John Brademas)
- Introduction of Congressman Shays, Keynote Speaker, Former Co-Chair
of Congressional Arts Caucus.
10:25AM - Keynote Address: Federal Support of the Arts and Culture
(Congressman Shays)
10:55AM - Introduction of Panel (Rogan Kersh, Associate Dean of Wagner, NYU)
11:00AM - Panel Presentation/Discussion
- Panel will include Alice Whelihan, Indemnity Administrator, NEA;
John Brademas, Author of the Act; Ford
American Association of Museums, and Alan Fern, Director Emeritus,
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The Department of Homeland Security and the Next Presidency: Implementing the Transition
Center for Strategic & International Studies
1800 K St. NW
Washington, DC 20006
Phone: 202-887-0200
The Department of Homeland Security –Implementing Change
There is broad acknowledgement that DHS needs a common culture, sustained institutional capacity building, and reorganization. The next president can influence this direction through his appointments to key posts and with his budget. The greater challenge may be, however, executing these reforms and we ask how these changes may be best implemented.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
White Paper Release
1300
Phone: (202) 691-4000
Looking to the Future; A Challenge to Congress by Paul C. Light
The
- Strengthen its analytical and predictive capabilities.
- Nurture consensus-building procedures that will help to bridge the partisan divisions in Congress and overcome the electoral disincentives that all members face.
- Take advantage of genuine opportunities for future-oriented action.
To help address these needs, the
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Election Night Extravaganza!
Kimmel Center for University Life - Rosenthal Pavilion
60 Washington Square South
No matter who you're voting for in this year's election, come celebrate Democracy with the John Brademas Center on Election Night! The night will be jam-packed with live election night coverage, live entertainment, food and fun!
Join your fellow students, community members and local politicians on a night that is sure to be a historic event!
Monday, October 20, 2008
3rd Annual Bernard and Irene Schwartz Lecture on Congress
Library of Congress, Jefferson Building
Members Room
101 Independence Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20540
Doors Open at 10:00AM
ACHIEVEMENTS IN PERIL: CREATING A GOVERNMENT WELL EXECUTED
The Lecture will feature Dr. Paul C. Light, Goddard Professor of Public Service in NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Professor Light is recognized as one of the nation’s leading experts on government reform, the political appointments process and the civil service. His most recent book, A Government Ill Executed, was recently launched in DC with remarks from Senator Tom Daschle and has received accolades from Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Reversing the decline in government performance would be a challenge for even the toughest corporate COO, but is nearly impossible given the bureaucratic largess that has run wild over the past half century. Successive Administrations and Congresses have been so preoccupied with promising more of virtually everything government delivers that they have neglected the bureaucratic atrophy that is undermining the faithful execution of the laws. But after three decades of benign and deliberate neglect, the federal government is perilously close to becoming the government ill executed that Alexander Hamilton warned against.
Professor Light will discuss this year's elections, our stymied government bureaucracy, and his ideas of how to fix government so it works efficiently and effectively.
Following Professor Light's lecture, a discussion will take place with Virginia L. Thomas, Associate Vice President of Washington Operations for Hillsdale College and former Director of Executive Branch Relations of The Heritage Foundation and Rudy deLeon, Senior Vice President of National Security and International Policy.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Constitution Day: The Constitution and the Balance of Powers
Kimmel Center for University Life - Eisner & Lubin Auditorium
60 Washington Square South
LUNCH WILL BE PROVIDED
Doors open at 11:40am - Lunch will be available.
Over 220 years ago in Philadelphia, the framers of the Constitution set out to create a system of representative government that would united the 13 former British colonies under a Federal Government strong enough to defend its citizens and territory and pursue common national interests, but still not become so powerful as to devolve into tyranny.
Their solution was built into the very foundation of the new government with a series of checks and balances to prevent the President, the Congress or the Courts from accumulating so much power as to threaten the liberty of the citizens.
The history of the country has seen the ebb and flow of power among the executive and legislative branches, through times of war and peace, economic crisis and prosperity. Beginning with the Great Depression and World War II, however, there has been a steady increase in the powers of the Federal Government in general, and of the Executive Branch in particular. And since coming into office in 2001, President George W. Bush, and in particular Vice President Dick Cheney, have pushed to restore Executive Branch power which they felt had been too reined in following the Nixon Watergate scandals.
The question today is whether the Democrats, after winning back control of the House of Representatives and Senate in 2006, have begun to shift power back to the other end of
Join a discussion between NYU President John Sexton and
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Federal Disaster Response Policy: Priorities for Reform
Rayburn House Office Building
House Judiciary Committee Room, 2226
Washington, DC 20515
Federal Disaster Response Policy: The Stafford Act and Priorities for Reform, presented by New York University’s Center for Catastrophe and Preparedness Response (CCPR) and John Brademas Center for the Study of Congress, host a discussion on the cornerstone of federal disaster relief legislation, the Robert T. Stafford Act, and needed reforms.
The program will begin with a forty-five minute panel coupled with a short question and answer session. Immediately following the panel will be keynote address by James Lee Witt, CEO of James Lee Witt Associates, a part of GlobalOptions Group, and director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) during the Clinton Administration.
Lunch will be provided.
Moderator:
Gerard Hoetmer, Executive Director, Public Entity Risk Institute
Panelists:
Paul Light, Ph.D. Paulette Goddard Professor of Public Service, Wagner School of Public Service, NYU; Investigator, CCPR; Affiliated Faculty, Brademas Center, NYU
Mitchell Moss, Ph.D. Henry Hart Rice Professor of Urban Policy and Planning,
Ms. Claire B. Rubin, M.A., President of Claire B. Rubin & Associates, is a social scientist with 30 years of experience as a researcher, practitioner, and academic in the fields of emergency management and homeland security
Keynote:
James Lee Witt, CEO, James Lee Witt Associates, a part of GlobalOptions Group; Director, FEMA, 1993-2001
Monday, April 28, 2008
The Brademas Center Presents a New Book: AMERICA: Our Next Chapter
*NOTE LOCATION CHANGE* The event will now be held at:
Kimmel Center for University Life - Eisner & Lubin Auditorium
60 Washington Square South - 4th Floor
Senator Chuck Hagel has long been admired by his colleagues on both sides of the Senate floor for his honesty, integrity, and common-sense approach to the challenges of our times. The Los Angeles Times has praised his "bold positions on foreign policy and national security" and wondered, "What's not to like?" In
In
A staunch Republican yet a "hero to liberals" (Time), Hagel asks the tough questions and delivers straight answers to
Monday, March 24, 2008
The Brademas Center Presents a New Book: Reclaiming Conservatism
Juan Carlos Center
53 Washington Square South
Come meet the Author and Brademas Center Advisory Board Member Mickey Edwards, as he talks about his new book.
Mickey Edwards was a member of Congress for 16 years and chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee. He has taught at Harvard and
Friday, December 14, 2007
Legislating for the Future: Defense
U.S. House of Representatives, Rayburn Building B-318, Washington, D.C. - Southwest of the Capitol on a site bounded by Independence Avenue, South Capitol Street, First Street, and C Street, S.W.
When setting legislative agendas in Washington, Defense has always been a controversial issue. But it will become even more controversial in the future as Congress eventually comes to grips with the War on Terror and other defense issues such as changes in force structure, Department of Defense reform and base closing. The question is how Congress can address these defense issues before they become so difficult that action is impossible.
This question will be addressed in three papers to be presented December 14th by the Brademas Center for the Study of Congress, based at NYU Wagner. The papers are written by several of the leading scholars in the field – Paul K. Davis, Principal Researcher, The Rand Corporation, Kenneth R. Mayer, Professor of Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Michael O’Hanlon, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Book Launch: Adlai Stevenson's Lasting Legacy
Kimmel Center for University Life - Rosenthal Pavilion
60 Washington Square South
Friday, September 21, 2007
Legislating for the Future: Social Security
U.S. House of Representatives, Rayburn Building B-318, Washington, D.C.
Social Security remains one of the most controversial policy problems on the legislative agenda. Although many experts agree that the program is headed for crisis, Congress simply cannot find enough focus to examine the problems, sift through the solutions, and reach a consensus on how to protect Social Security into an uncertain future. The question is not whether the program will need repair, but what kinds of repairs Congress can bear.
This question will be addressed in three papers to be presented September 21 by the Brademas Center for the Study of Congress, based at NYU Wagner. The papers are written by several of the leading scholars in the field -- former White House aides and Brookings Institution scholars William Galston and Jason Furman, who has been a Visiting Scholar at Wagner,and RAND scholar Steven Popper. Galston's paper will explore the politics of making tough decisions on the program, Furman will talk about potential policy solutions for the future, and Popper will ask about the long-range solvency of the program under different scenarios. Together, the three scholars will help Congress understand both what might be done and how to generate enough political will to act.
The program is part of the Legislating for the Future project organized by Paul C. Light, the Paulette Goddard Professor of Public Service at Wagner.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Conversation on Global Climate Change & the Environment
325 Russell Senate Office Building
1st and C Streets, NE
Washington, DC
Please join us for a discussion between Senator John Kerry, author of This Moment on Earth, and Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, author of Winning the Future: A 21st Century Contract with America, on the topic of global climate change and the environment.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Legislating for the Future: Global Environment
Science Subcommittee Hearing Room
2325 Rayburn House Office Building
Corner of Independence and 1st Streets, SW
Washington, DC
This conference on global environmental change will focus on three papers dealing with the difficulties of addressing the complex long-range issue of the global environment, given the institutional barriers to action in Congress. The panel of three speakers will examine the politics of the global environmental issue, ways that Congress can anticipate the future through new analytic approach, and the overall challenges of making long-range policy.