Experts in the News | Miller Center

Is the American presidency built on empty promises?

Presidents promise to fix things with the stroke of a pen, but few of these promises result in meaningful change. In his new book False Front, Kenneth Lowande argues that modern presidents intentionally put appearances ahead of governance, pursuing executive actions that are destined to fail in order to win favor with important constituencies. Lowande joins Miller Center Faculty Fellow Rachel Potter and Sarada Peri, who served as special assistant and senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama, to discuss.

Rachel Potter

Using Artificial Intelligence in Warfare Creates Constitutional Concerns, Argues Professor

Professor Ashley Deeks of the University of Virginia School of Law looks at the legal implications of using autonomous systems during war in a new paper, “Delegating War Initiation to Machines.”

Ashley Deeks

Justice Stephen Breyer: 'Reading the Constitution'

The 24th annual Henry J. Abraham Distinguished Lecture features retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Stephen Breyer. He joins Barbara Perry, the Miller Center’s J. Wilson Newman Professor of Governance and co-director of the Presidential Oral History Program, and Risa Goluboff, former UVA Law School dean and the David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law, for a wide-ranging conversation on Justice Breyer’s new book, "Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism." Together they will discuss Justice Breyer’s judicial philosophy through an examination of some of the Court’s most historic cases.

Barbara Perry, Risa Goluboff

Tesla Self-Driving System Will Be Investigated by Safety Agency

At the cybercab event last week, Mr. Musk said that the self-driving technology would allow riders to “fall asleep and wake up at your destination.” Such promises could mislead Tesla owners to thinking that the technology available today is more capable than it is, said Michael Lenox, a professor at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.

Michael Lenox

The global rise of political 'nepo babies': Who is Jack Schlossberg, the heir to the Kennedy dynasty?

Presidential Studies Professor at the University of Virginia’s Miller Centre Barbara A Perry said name recognition could often serve as a "winning factor" in democracies.

Barbara Perry

Why we’re not talking about Kamala Harris as the “first female president”

“One of the lessons coming out of 2016 is that focusing on identity was not enough to sway swing voters in battleground states."

Jennifer Lawless