CONSTITUTIONAL LAW OF THE UNITED STATES

This course will introduce students to several foundational questions in the study of American constitutional politics and to techniques of constitutional interpretation.  What is the role of the Supreme Court in ensuring an appropriate balance of national and state power?  What is the role of the Court in policing the separation of powers at the national level, in peacetime and in wartime?  Should the Court be engaged in these efforts at all?  Course materials will largely be drawn from landmark constitutional decisions, supplemented by other historical and analytical academic texts.