GOVT 3001 - Constitutional Law and U.S. Politics

(crosslisted) AMST 3001
(CA-AS)

Fall. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

J. Margulies.

Constitutional Law provides the setting for some of the most contentious disputes in American life. Decisions by the Supreme Court about the meaning of the Constitution can change the country in dramatic ways. But to think of Constitutional Law as simply a body of rules misses at least half the picture. Supreme Court decisions are also enormously potent symbols, wielded like weapons in contests about what it means to be an American. People who have never read Brown v Board of Education or Roe v Wade still think these decisions matter a great deal, even if they cannot tell you exactly what they say. This course will examine Constitutional Law both as a body of rules and a contested symbol in American life. (AM)