| Introduction
Course
Purpose
Course
Importance
Course Format
Next Step
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Introduction
Welcome to the class! Your instructor, co-learner, and class advisor
will be Dr. Robert C. Bradley. You can learn more about Dr. Bradley by
going to the FAQ web page. Listed below are the course purpose, course
importance, and course format sections. At the end, there is a 'Next
Step' section informing you of what to do when you are finished
browsing this page.Course Purpose
This course will examine the role of the United States Supreme
Court in our legal and political systems. Major court
decisions will be analyzed to determine how they helped define
the legitimate powers of each branch of the federal government
and the proper relationship between the state and national
governments.
Course Importance
Given the pending lawsuits dealing with health care reform,
immigration, and Proposition 8 in California, the importance
of understanding the role of the Supreme Court in determining
the proper boundaries of federal authority and the appropriate functions and powers of the governmental branches appears
to be self-evident. Further, the two recent Obama appointees to the
Court make the study of its decisions even more interesting
at this time.
This course will stress that the Supreme
Court is a major political actor as well as a leading legal
authority. How a small group of non-elected justices are able
to check the power of the executive and legislative branches
in a democratic nation has been the subject of much research
and will be a predominant focus of inquiry in the course.
Course Format
This class will meet from 1 to 1:50 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday,
and Friday. The class will meet in Schroeder Hall 204. The
class will have a lecture component along with plenty of
opportunities for students to participate in class discussion.
During the semester, students will be involved in a number of
in-class exercises to illustrate different components of
case opinions.
Next Step
To become more familiar with the course, you should
next browse the Syllabus web page. On that page you will find
the course objectives, a list of the required texts, and
information about the course grading format and policy. Click
on Syllabus at the top of this page to go to it. After reading
the Syllabus page carefully, you should browse the Course
Schedule and FAQ pages to find out more about the course.
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