Course Syllabus

Welcome to SPEA-V536 – Rights and Responsibilities:  How Law Shapes Public Affairs (Section 12154). Tara Ali is the instructor for this course. An outline of the class sessions and a full downloadable syllabus are available in the Modules tab. 

Class Meetings: Days, Times, and Location

This class will be delivered asynchronously online. The full schedule of class meetings and an outline of what we will do in each class is available under the Modules tab. The schedule on Canvas is subject to limited change. Please note: You will be required to use Honorlock for all Application Assessments in this course. If you have an objection to that requirement, please reach out to me immediately to see if we can come to a different solution.

Course Description (from IU Course Bulletin)

Explanation of law in society and its influence on public-sector operations. Examination of central legal principles shaping American governance including the rule of law, supremacy and preemption, due process and equal protection, statutory interpretation, and judicial review of administrative agency action, among others. 

Supplementary Course Description

Legal issues are part of every policy problem. Understanding how lawyers and courts make decisions, determine what the words of laws mean, and establish what the law is (legal reasoning) will help you address whatever area of law you eventually confront in public, nonprofit, or for-profit work. Your job will almost inevitably bring you into contact with lawyers. Understanding legal reasoning will increase your level of comfort in communicating with lawyers, including knowing when to ask for their help, and what their advice means.

The Constitution, as the basis of the United States’ rule of law, establishes government power and the limits of that power. It determines what level of government can address which public policy problems and constrains how the problems can be addressed. The Constitution affects the government as an employer and its actions toward customers or clients.

In this course, we will focus on the United States’ form of government, including federalism, separation of powers, and individual rights, and we will discuss reasons why cases are decided the way they are and why our court-decided law changes over time. We will address how laws are drafted and how they are interpreted (through rules of statutory construction). Our focus will be on federal court cases in constitutional and administrative law to demonstrate the judiciary’s role in determining, influencing, or reflecting public policy.

This course is intended to help build you a foundation; it is not, however, a comprehensive presentation of any of the areas of law discussed.

Learning Outcomes

1. Differentiate among the types of lawmaking powers that different levels of government (federal, state, local) and different branches within a given level (legislative, executive, judicial) may exercise with respect to a public policy problem;
2. Identify the circumstances under which selected individual constitutional liberties constrain legislative or executive action to address a public policy challenge;
3. Apply concepts of sovereign immunity to determine when government actors and agencies may be sued and the types of remedies available;
4. Execute legal reasoning;
5. Interpret law in accordance with principles of statutory construction; and
6. Apply key concepts of judicial review of agency action.

Course Materials/Modules 

There is no textbook for this course. The Modules tab on Canvas contains all readings and other prep materials (either as files or hyperlinks). You will need to have access to a computer, tablet, or other device that will work for streaming the class lectures, for completing the course assignments and assessments, and for accessing and utilizing Nexis Uni (available through IUCAT).

Grading Scale