Course Info

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Course Info for POLS - 321 - 90, Summer 2022
Class number: 1078 Title: Law, Policy, and Society Department: Political Science
Career: Undergraduate Component: Seminar Session: First Quarter
Instructor's Permission Required: No Grading Basis: Regular Units: 1.00
Enrollment limited to 19 Current enrollment: 5 Available seats: 14
Start date: Tuesday, May 31, 2022 End date: Friday, July 1, 2022 Mode of Instruction: Remote
Schedule: TR: 6:00PM-9:15PM, N/A Instructor(s): Dudas, Mary
Prerequisite(s): None
Distribution Requirement: Meets Social Sciences Requirement
Course Description:
This course is about the interaction between law and politics. It treats the federal courts as a political institution that enjoys a complex and changing relationship with its coequal branches of government and the states. We will investigate if course are a powerful policy making branch, how they exercise power, and under what conditions they are most and least powerful. Our focus will be on the federal courts, particularly the US Supreme Court. First, we will consider the broad debates around the power of courts. Second, we will turn to a series of case studies to understand the power of courts in particular instances. Possible case studies include: the NAACP's integration campaign, abortion rights and anti-abortion activism, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title IX, and court policy-making in the era where power is exercised through algorithms.