Politics 387AW - Advanced Topics in Politics: 'Law and Inequality'

The gap between the rich and the poor in the United States today is as wide as it was during the Great Depression. Some scholars and lawmakers have called our era the "Second Gilded Age," a reference that evokes images of robber barons and monopolists, the "billionaire class" of yesteryear. This seminar poses the question: what does law have to do with it? Together, we will explore all the ways that "law," "politics," and economics" are messily entwined, and how those entanglements explain who has wealth, who gets healthcare, who goes to jail, and who decides climate change policy.

Prereq: 8 credits in the department and POLIT-104.