2026 Matsui Lecture: Congressional Power in Turbulent Times

The Robert T. Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service is pleased to announce that Former United States Representative Charlie Dent will be the 2026 Matsui Lecturer.

As global politics enter a period of heightened uncertainty, the rules-based international order is under increasing strain. The 2026 Matsui Lecture will be a timely and thoughtful conversation between Former U.S. Representative Charlie Dent and Professor of Political Science, Eric Schickler, on the evolving role of the U.S. Congress amid shifting geopolitical power, global trade tensions, and expanding spheres of influence—while also confronting the current administration's aggressive use of presidential power and widespread concerns about executive overreach. With the upcoming midterm elections looming, the discussion will explore the ramifications of this era of political volatility on congressional oversight and voting patterns to assess what these dynamics mean for American democracy and U.S. leadership at home and abroad.

Please join us for Congressional Power in Turbulent Times: Elections, Executive Power, and America's Role in a Changing World, a conversation with former U.S. Representative Charlie Dent, and moderator Eric Schickler, Professor of Political Science and co-Director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley.

Event Details:

Date: Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Time: 4:00pm - 5:15pm

Hybrid Event

Event Contact: Ezra Bristow ([email protected])

About the Speaker:

Congressman Charlie Dent is Executive Director and Vice President of the Aspen Institute Congressional Program, where he leads bipartisan, bicameral policy education programs for sitting members of Congress. In addition to his role at the Aspen Institute, Congressman Dent is a Senior Policy Advisor to the global law firm, DLA Piper and appeared as a political contributor on CNN for five years and continues to comment regularly on various networks. Congressman Dent also serves on the Boards of CARE USA and the National Archives Foundation. Congressman Dent is a member of the Task Force for American Democracy which was launched in November 2025. Further, he served as a Distinguished Advisor for Pew Charitable Trusts, the Inaugural Visiting Fellow at Penn State’s McCourtney Institute for Democracy, and a former Visiting Fellow for the University of Pennsylvania (UPENN), Perry World House.

Prior to those positions, Congressman Dent served 7 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives representing the 15th Congressional District of Pennsylvania. During his time in Congress, Congressman Dent distinguished himself as a strong, independent leader who is well respected on both sides of the aisle. Congressman Dent was a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee where he chaired the Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies. Further, he served as the Chairman of the House Committee on Ethics from 2015 – 2017. In addition to his role as a senior Appropriator, Congressman Dent was the co-chair of the Tuesday Group (now called The Republican Governance Group), a caucus of more than 50 center-right Republicans, where he played an important role in many of the most challenging policy and political issues confronted by Congress. Congressman Dent was a member of the Speaker of the House’s weekly cross section lunch and was a member of the Majority Leader’s Chairman’s Table. Before his time in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Dent served for six years in the Pennsylvania State Senate and eight years in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Congressman Dent holds a Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Service and International Politics from the Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Public Administration from Lehigh University. He is a recipient of the Order of Merit from the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2015, Moravian College conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws upon Congressman Dent. He is married to his wife, Pamela, and they have three grown children, Kathryn, William, and Jack.

About the Moderator:

Eric Schickler is Jeffrey & Ashley McDermott Professor of Political Science and co-Director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of seven books, including Partisan Nation: The Dangerous New Logic of American Politics in a Nationalized Era (with Paul Pierson); Investigating the President: Congressional Checks on Presidential Power (2016, with Douglas Kriner) and Racial Realignment: The Transformation of American Liberalism, 1932-1965, winner of the Woodrow Wilson Prize for the best book on government, politics or international affairs published in 2016. Schickler was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2017.

Every year the Matsui Center invites a distinguished former Member of Congress to the Berkeley campus for the Matsui Lectureship (alternating between Republicans and Democrats). During their residency, the Matsui Lecturer meets with students, faculty and researchers, speaks to classes, participates in the intellectual life of the Matsui Center and the Cal campus, and is the featured speaker at a major public event on critical issues of the day.

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