Political Science 792P - S- Proseminar in Public Law

The discipline of political science finds its origins in the study of law and legal doctrine. Though the discipline has become much more diverse in terms of the topics investigated by political scientists, it is nonetheless essential to understand the roles played by law, courts, and other legal actors in the political process. The purpose of this seminar is to introduce graduate students to the public law subfield by focusing on empirical research on law and courts from both American and comparative perspectives. To achieve this end, we will address a wide range of theoretically rich and empirically driven research, including examining decision making by judges, the litigation strategies of interest groups, staffing the bench, as well as how courts both shape and are shaped by public opinion.