American Constitutional Law: Judicial Review and The Limits to National Power

This course is a highly interactive examination of the United States Supreme Court and judicial review from 1787 to the present. Combining historical, institutional and analytic approaches, the course focuses on the Court's landmark constitutional decisions and the theories and techniques of constitutional interpretation that have enabled the judiciary to influence, shape and constrain the American political system. Key issues will include the continuing struggles over the power of judicial review, the Court's role in policing the separation of powers at the national level - between Congress and the President - and the battle for power between the states and the national government. Other topics include property rights and economic liberties, campaign finance reform, and war and emergency powers.