Description
This class explores the U.S. Supreme Court as an essential part of the American political and legal system. It provides an overview of the powers and dynamics of the Court and its individual justices, the role of other legal-system actors in bringing cases to (and arguing them before) the Court, and the Court’s awkward role as an un-elected policymaker in a majoritarian-democratic governmental system.
Among the main questions explored will be:
- How does the Supreme Court choose the 1% of appealed cases it takes for oral argument – and do those arguments really influence the Justices’ decisions?
- How has the Court expanded its powers vis-à-vis other elected officials – and how are those officials still able to “check and balance” the Court?
- How “political” is the Court, and why does a simple “legal” or “political” model fail to explain the decisions and dynamics of the Court?
- What is behind the current controversy over the ethics of individual justices (or lack thereof!)
