Credits:3 pts.
This course provides an introduction to the study of law and courts as political institutions and judges as political actors. The topics we will consider include: what courts do; different legal systems; the operation of legal norms; the U.S. judicial system; the power of courts and constraints on judicial power; judicial review; the origin of judicial institutions; how and why Supreme Court justices make decisions; case selection; conflict between the Court and the other branches of government; decision making and conflict within the judicial hierarchy; trials and juries; plea-bargaining and pre-trial settlement; the impact and implementation of court decisions; courts as agents of social change; the place of courts in American political history; and judicial appointments. Our main focus will be U.S. courts, but we will discuss other courts as well. This is not a course on constitutional law. The focus will not be on doctrinal analysis or the exegesis of cases.
