Bio: Justin Hart is President’s Excellence in Teaching Professor and Associate Professor of History at Texas Tech University, where he is also Senior Fellow with the Institute for Peace and Conflict. He is the author of Empire of Ideas (Oxford University Press, 2013) and several articles and book chapters on U.S. public diplomacy and the cultural dimensions of U.S. foreign relations. He completed his Ph.D. in History at Rutgers University. His current project is a history of the failed campaign for Universal Military Training in the United States.

Abstract: When Richad Nixon resigned the presidency in October 1974, it appeared that, despite the many concerning actions coming from the Executive Branch over the past several years, the constitution had functioned the way it was intended. The Judicial and Legislative Branches had checked the authority of the Executive Branch and the president was forced to resign as a result. Over fifty years later, however, this moment looks more like a blip than a sea change in the balance of power between the three branches of government in the United States. This talk charts the rise of Executive power over the last fifty years and examines the crisis of democracy that has resulted from an unchecked Executive Branch.