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The two-year series on "Congress and the President: Politics, Policy, and Governance," is aimed at encouraging new ways of thinking about the preparations for and immediate aftermath of the election of a new President on November 4, 2008. A major question confronting Congress and the new President will be how to forge a productive relationship that will more effectively confront 21st Century problems. The past eight years of the Administration of President George W. Bush was consumed primarily with the effects of the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks on the U.S. and the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The relationships between the two branches deteriorated as the President sought to reassert presidential prerogatives in war time at the expense of Congress. Regardless of which party wins the White House in 2008, it is clear that the people will be expecting a real change in policies and the way Washington works. This series will examine the options available in charting new directions in policymaking and governance.

Unless otherwise noted, all seminars are held on Fridays, between 3-5 p.m. in the Wilson Center's fifth floor conference room.

The Congress Project was launched in June, 1999. Donald Wolfensberger, a 28 year staff veteran of the House of Representatives and author of Congress and the People: Deliberative Democracy on Trial, directs the project.

Former Congress Project speaker's series include:

  • "Congress and the Future:21st Century Policy Challenges" (2005-2007)
  • "Congress and the Policy Mix: Politics, Process, and Presidents" (2003-2005)
  • "Governing Post 9/11: Congress and the President at War" (2002-2003)
  • "Leadership in Congress: Policymaking in the 21st Century" (2001-2002)
  • "Influences on the Congressional Policy Process" (2000-2001)
  • "Congress and the Purse Strings" (1999-2000)
  • "The Information Age: Congress and the Policy Process" (1998-1999)