Active Course List

Legal procedures by which state and federal administrative agencies exercise legislative, judicial and executive powers. Emphasis is placed on the constitutional position of administrative agencies, the rule making process, the power of agencies to decide rights and obligations concerning individual cases, and judicial control of administrative action.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Programs:

Business Law (CERT) | Political Science (BS) | Public Policy Minor

Review of selected U.S. Supreme Court decisions relating to the powers of the President, Congress and the Judiciary, as well as the division of power between the states and the federal government. Focus is on case briefing, underlying rationales, and the development of individual analytical abilities.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Programs:

Business Law (CERT) | Political Science (BS) | Public Policy Minor

Review of selected U.S. Supreme Court decisions interpreting areas such as substantive due process, abortion, speech, press, religion, and equal protection. Focus is on the rationale which underlies decisions and the development of individual analytical abilities. Same as LAWE 436

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Programs:

Political Science (BS) | Public Policy Minor

This course examines major schools in American legal thought from the dawn of the 20th century to the present day. Our focus will lie with turn-of-the century formalism; legal realism; the legal process school; law and economics; and critical legal studies. We will apply legal reasoning from these schools to selected controversial 20th-century Supreme Court cases on church-state issues, gay and lesbian rights, privacy rights, criminal defendants' rights and other issues as appropriate.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Programs:

Political Science (BS)

This course explores topics in public policy and public administration beyond what is covered in the existing curriculum. Students study specialized topics of current importance in the field. Specific topics will change depending on the term and instructor. May be retaken with a change of topic.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Programs:

Public Policy Minor

Politics of the natural environment (U.S. focus). Environmental and opposition values; roles of public opinion, Congress, presidency and courts in environmental policy making. Policy areas include: air/water pollution, climate change, hazardous/nuclear waste, sustainable development, and commons problems like overfishing.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Programs:

Public Policy Minor

A broadly based introduction to the issues, processes, and techniques of public sector labor relations.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Programs:

Public Policy Minor

The development of public personnel management in federal, state and local governments; strategic planning and policy making, position management, staffing, performance management, workplace relations.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Programs:

Public Policy Minor

This course explores the interconnection between political systems, public policy, and food systems. Current food and agricultural policy is evaluated in light of political, economic, and societal conditions.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Programs:

Public Policy Minor

This course examines entertainment policy from historical, cultural, political, and societal perspectives. Among other topics, this course will use a public policy framework to examine the impact of local government policies like noise ordinances, copyright laws, 1st amendment issues of free expression and assembly, and the historical and cultural significance of music as a catalyst for social change.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Programs:

Advocating for Social Justice Minor | Public Policy Minor

This course examines the relationship between housing and health, with a focus on how housing policies and programs can affect the health and well-being of individuals and communities. The course covers the historical, theoretical, and empirical aspects of housing and health, as well as the current challenges and opportunities for improving both. The course also explores the role of stakeholders and institutions in shaping and implementing housing and health policies, such as government institutions, markets, society, and policymakers.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Programs:

Public Policy Minor

This course explores topics in political institutions and process beyond what is covered in the existing curriculum. Students study specialized topics of current importance in the field. Specific topics will change depending on the term and instructor. May be retaken with a change of topic.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

This course examines public opinion in American politics. Topics include the definition, nature and consequences of public opinion; political socialization; public opinion on selected issues; intergroup differences in public opinion, and public opinion polling methods.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

United States Congress and state legislatures, with some cross-national comparisons. Legislative structure, powers; districting, elections, representation, constituency relations; committee system, parties, law-making process, rules and procedure, decision-making, relations with executives and courts. Reforms.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Examination of executive politics in United States at a federal and state level, with some cross-national comparisons. United States presidency and executive branch, governors and state executive branches, mayors, and other local executives.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

An examination of the structure, jurisdiction and processes of federal and state courts. Also studied are judicial decision-making, the selection of judges and justices. Same as LAWE 437.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

The course examines politics in the American South. It examines the historical and cultural roots of Southern distinctiveness, traditionalistic political culture, racial conflicts, hostility toward organized labor, religious fundamentalism, tolerance of state violence, and social and moral conservatism. Major attention is paid to the realignment of white Southerners toward the Republican Party.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Field placement with a governmental agency or related organization. Provides a learning experience in which the student can integrate and apply knowledge and theory derived from curriculum. P/N only.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Programs:

Public Policy Minor

Advanced study and research on topics not currently available in existing courses. May be repeated with a change of topic. Requires advisor and instructor approval of topic.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

This course explores topics in political philosophy beyond what is covered in the existing curriculum. Students study specialized topics of current importance in the field. Specific topics will change depending on the term and instructor. May be retaken with change of topic.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Political thought in United States from colonial period to the Civil War. Puritans, American revolution, republicanism, debate over United States Constitution, Jacksonian Democracy, Thoreau, reformers and religious and secular utopias, women's' rights, states' rights, abolitionism, proslavery.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Political thought in United States from reconstruction to present. Controversies over industrial capitalism: Social Darwinism, Utopian Socialism, Populism, Socialism, Progressivism, Women's Rights, suffrage movement, and contemporary feminism; African American political thought: liberalism; conservatism.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

This course explores topics in political participation and behavior beyond what is covered in the existing curriculum. Students study specialized topics of current importance in the field. Specific topics will change depending on the term and instructor. May be retaken with a change of topic.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Elections in the United States at the federal, state, and local levels. Election law, history, factors affecting elections, voting behavior, campaign finance, role of parties and groups, campaign strategy and tactics. Analysis of contemporary elections.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Political parties in United States at the federal, state, and local levels. Cross-national comparisons. Decline and revival of parties. What parties do. Is the two party system the best? Are third parties the answer? Party organization. Voting behavior. Legislative, executive parties. Minnesota focus.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration