Course Syllabus

SPEA-V405: Public Law & the Legislative Process

Welcome to Public Law & the Legislative Process! Christine Walsh is the instructor for this course. A full syllabus and an outline of what we will do in each class is available under the Modules tab in Canvas. The schedule on Canvas is subject to limited change.

CLASS MEETINGS

This class will be delivered in person. We will meet in Ballantine Hall 304 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:20 to 3:35 p.m. Our first class is August 25, 2026. 

COURSE MATERIAL

This course has a required IU eText, which you purchased when enrolling in the course and that you can access through Canvas. The text is Huefner, S.F., & Desai, A.C. (2024). Learning Legislation and Regulation: An Introduction to Lawmaking Processes in the Modern American Legal System. For more information on using IU eText, please see: The Student Guide to IU eTexts (Links to an external site, opens in a new window.). Please familiarize yourself with the eText before the first day of class.

COURSE DESCRIPTION (FROM COURSE BULLETIN)

The course focuses on Congress as a policy making body in the U.S. public law system. It covers the Constitutional framework for Congressional operations as well as technical aspects of the legislative process such as bill drafting and analysis, the role of leadership, and the prerogatives of individual members.

LEARNING OUTCOMES/COURSE GOALS

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

  • Describe how and why lawmaking power is distributed in the United States among branches and levels of government with a focus on legislative lawmaking.
  • Describe how legislating differs from other branches’ lawmaking powers.
  • Explain the major constitutional provisions authorizing legislation and the factors that determine whether federal or state legislatures, or both may legislate to address a given issue.
  • Describe and analyze different forces that shape and influence legislative representation.
  • Describe the role and impact of advocacy groups and lobbyists in creating and blocking legislation, including budget legislation.
  • Understand the role of political parties in policymaking and issue advocacy.
  • Describe the processes of statutory creation, from introduction of a bill to enactment of law.
  • Describe the budget process by which the legislative branch funds government activities.
  • Describe the chief ethic rules that govern the legislative process and legislator activities.
  • Identify interpretive issues in applying statutes and regulations.
  • Apply different statutory interpretation theories, techniques, tools, and canons of construction to make persuasive arguments about how a statute or regulation should be drafted.
  • Draft simple legislation.
  • Demonstrate the ability to advocate for legislation through oral advocacy.

GRADES

Grades are based on the following scale:

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IU’s grading policies are available here:  https://policies.iu.edu/policies/aca-66-grades-and-grading/index.html