Government 216 - JUDICIAL DEC MAKING/LEGAL PROC

This course provides the necessary background to integrate our modern understanding of judicial behavior into the realm of American Political Science. For centuries the prevailing wisdom was that judges merely applied the relevant law to the facts in evidence. Over the past seventy years a more nuanced analysis has emerged, and we are now very much inclined to attribute both bias and political motive to many of the holdings that courts issue. GOV 216 will give students and understanding of both judicial behavior, and of the connections between legal reasoning and the final political outcomes that court opinions bring about. (E)