GAAS PolSci Conference 2025: The Biden Presidency - An Assessment

Project no.:

25-0522

Date:

Thursday, May, 22nd– Friday, 23th, 2025

Venue:

Political Science Department, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena

Partner:

Political Science Department, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena
German Association for American Studies

Organizers:

Michael Dreyer, Tim Haas, Sarah Wagner & David Sirakov

Target group:

Political scientists, historians, sociologists as well as a larger interested audience

Participation fee:

Participation at the conference is free of any charges, both for presenters and for participants.

Registration:

Please register for the conference here.

General Information (program, arrival, accommodation, travel grants, business meeting):

available soon …

Description:

The Biden Administration came to a dramatic and unexpected turn with the events of the summer as well as the election of Donald J. Trump as the 47th President last November. It is a longstanding tradition of the Political Science Section of the DGfA/GAAS to evaluate a President’s term by examining the politics, policy, and polity during his administration. Joe Biden’s presidency, marked by significant challenges in both domestic and international policy, certainly merits the continuation of this tradition. 

The new administration is attempting to reverse key policies of its predecessor at an extremely rapid pace and does not shy away from unconstitutional behavior. Therefore, alongside an evaluation of the Biden administration’s record, the conference will also explore the initial months of the Trump administration. 

Program

Thursday, May 22, 2025

05:00 pm
Business Meeting

06:00pm
Panel Discussion
Trump 2.0: Angriff auf die US-Demokratie (in German)
Dr. Florian Böller, Heidelberg Center for American Studies
Prof. Dr. Michael Dreyer, University Jena
Prof. Dr. Christian Lammert, FU Berlin
Sarah Wagner, Atlantische Akademie

7:30pm
Social Gathering

Friday, May 23, 2025

09:00am
Panel 1: Barriers
The Glass Ceiling and the Glass Cliff: Representations of Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris in US Election Coverage
Caroline Leicht (Glasgow)

Breaking Barriers: Assessing Women's Political Representation Under the Biden Administration
Bismah Yousuf (Kashmir—Zoom)

10:30am
Coffee Break

 

11:00am 
Panel 2: Foreign Policy
Promises and Punitive Realities: Biden’s Immigration Legacy
Grit Grigoleit-Richter (Passau)

12:00pm
Lunch

1:00pm
Panel 3: Domestic Policy
Biden’s Social Policy and the Contested Trajectory of the U.S. Welfare State
Christian Lammert (Berlin)

DEMOLAW: Understanding Legislative Design During the Biden Presidency
Mike Cowburn et al. (Friedrichshafen)

2.30pm
End of conference