Course Syllabus

WASHINGTON LEADERSHIP PROGRAM

CLASS SYLLABUS

Fall 2026

SPEA V409– Federal Policymaking and the Hearing Process

Friday morning – 9:00 am to Noon

Location: IU's Capital Campus as well as field visits to the offices of guest speakers 

Course Description:  Using a structured speaker series as a base, this class exposes students to policy decision makers in the legislative and executive branches. The class requires students attend Congressional hearings, write hearing memos, and finishes the semester with a student run mock hearing.

Learning Objectives and Outcomes: The class objective is to dive into the roles, missions, and goals of congressional offices, Executive Branch agencies, non-profits, and other Washington-based organizations to understand how federal policy is debated and developed. Students will gain a deep understanding of the organizational structure of Congress and the Executive Branch through a lecture series as well as assignments that solidify students’ understanding of congressional jurisdictional lines. Attending congressional hearings and speakers will focus on current policy debates. The final project will be a mock hearing, which allows the students to break into groups and develop appropriate presentation information looking at a current policy issue from the legislative perspective. The students will bring together their understanding of congressional roles and Executive Branch roles. Students will complete the class with a better understanding of how to evaluate current issues by understanding the congressional and Executive Branch roles in policy development and implementation.

Reading Assignments: There is no required textbook. Each week reading assignments will come from various free government and public online resources. In addition, you are expected to stay up to date on major developments about the federal government by reading digital online news sources on a daily basis. Finally, when a guest speaker is announced, you are expected to research the guest speaker and their organization, to be prepared to have a discussion with them about their career and work.