War powers: reforming the law, with case studies of U.S. Military participation in the Persian Gulf and Haiti

摘要

The thesis studies the U.S. legal framework on war powers, concluding that it has not allowed the President and Congress to work together on war powers issues. From the constitutional viewpoint, this lack of friendly environment arises from the fact that the Constitution shares war powers between the presidency and the Congress, producing the conflict. From a political viewpoint, this dispute is explained by the presidential willingness to use the war powers without congressional authorization. In addition, every time lawmakers have sued the president for violations of the War Powers Resolution, the judiciary has ruled that this is a political question. Legally speaking, this conflict could end in a constitutional conflict. Politically speaking, this dispute could also have an important impact on the role that the United States plays within the community of nations and on the U.S. national security goal of promoting democracy abroad. In order to offer a possible solution, the thesis proposes legal changes that would strengthen the consultation process established by both the War Powers Resolution and the National Security Act of 1947.