Course Catalog

PBPL 113

Introduction to Law

This course traces the development of law as a stabilizing force and instrument of peaceful change from the state of nature through the present day. Among the topics covered are the differences between civil law and common law systems, law and equity, substantive and procedural law, civil and criminal processes, and adversarial and inquisitorial systems. Federal trial and appellate courts, the role of counsel and the judge, and the function of the grand and petit juries are also studied. The doctrine of substantive due process is explored from its beginning through modern times, as are the antecedents and progeny of Griswold v. Connecticut. The Warren Court and its decisions in Miranda, Escobedo, Massiah, Mapp, Gideon, Gault, Baker and Brown, as surveyed, Though not a course in constitutional law, the role of the U.S. Constitution as the blueprint of a democratic, federated republic, and as the supreme law of the land, is examined. There is some emphasis on the fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth, and 14th amendments. Students are exposed to conflicting views on controversial issues such as capital punishment, gay rights, abortion, and rights of the criminally accused.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 114

Judgment & Decision Making

Most of the decisions that you make in your lifetime require very little thought. Occasionally, however, you will encounter a situation that requires careful and systematic analysis. This course examines the basic issues in formal decision-making. The notions of utility and risk will be introduced, and quantitative techniques used in the decision-making process will be developed. Examples will be drawn from medicine, law, foreign policy, economics, psychology, sports and gambling.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 141

Conservation Biology

No Course Description Available.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 201

Introduction to American Public Policy

This course introduces students to the formal and informal processes through which American public policy is made. They will study the constitutional institutions of government and the distinct role each branch of the national government plays in the policy-making process, and also examine the ways in which informal institutions-political parties, the media, and political lobbyists-contribute to and shape the policy process.
This course is only open to Sophomore and Junior students.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 202

Law, Argument, and Public Policy

In this course, students will study legal reasoning and the myriad ways in which legal arguments influence the making of American public policy. They will learn how to structure a legal argument and identify key facts and issues, analyze the formal process through which legal cases unfold (including jurisdiction, standing, and the rules of evidence), and examine how rules of law, which define policy choices and outcomes, develop out of a series of cases.
Prerequisite: C- or better in PBPL201 or ECON247,or PBPL Major, or Permission of Instructor.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 211

Community Development: Principles & Practice

Community development policy and practice will be examined in historical perspective and current application. Topics will include: economic development, housing, social services, infrastructure, and community research and planning.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 215

Privacy, Property and Freedom in the Internet Age

This course examines the legal, ethical and political dimensions of the novel issues raised by fast-emerging communications and other technology in the global marketplace. Should Congress support efforts to adopt a global standard for Internet privacy? How would such a standard be enforced in cyberspace? What is the future of intellectual property and Internet commerce in a post-Napster world? How will libel and obscenity laws be applied in cyberspace? Should the Internet be taxed? What standards should govern the use of personal medical information? Should police have to obtain a search warrant to use a heat-sensing device to determine if marijuana is being grown in a private residence? Must the Internet widen the gap between rich and poor?

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 218

Urban Politics

No Course Description Available.

1.00 units, Lecture

AMST 219

Building America

This course discusses how transportation over 150 years helped create powerful urban centers, facilitated western migration, and built the suburban nation we know today. Primary attention will focus on the historical battle over government support between road and rail in America and Europe, the causes for the railways' decline, and the prospects for their revival in an autocentric society. In addition, problems and policies related to suburbanization, pollution, congestion, and land use will be addressed. The course title comes from the book authored by the instructor.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 224

Pub Pol Anal:Thry & Prac

A general introduction to public policy, including the nature of social choice, the ends and means of policy, the justification of public regulation, and the evaluation of public policy.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 240

Pbpl & Appl Anthropology

Policy is explored in a cross-cultural context showing the variety of ways that different societies manage the same conflicts and also the various ways in which conflict can be created or submerged. The role of anthropologists in studying conflict and contributing to policy issues is also discussed.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 255

The Iraq War: The Rise of Jihad and the American Dilemma

For better or worse, the war in Iraq is bringing about major transformations in the Middle East, within the U.S. military, and in how we think of ourselves as a world power. This course will examine the Iraq war—its origins as a “pre-emptive” war on terror, the early U.S. and British occupation and the unanticipated Sunni insurgency. We will revisit the bloody campaigns to defeat al Qaeda in Iraq and avert genocidal Sunni-Shiite civil strife, the rise of the American counterinsurgency tactics, the “surge,” and the emergence in the U.S. military of soldier-scholars expert in “asymmetric warfare.” We will assess the distortions of American values and law in the Abu Ghraib, electronic surveillance, and Guantanamo controversies. We will review the political debate over U.S. withdrawal, the rise of Iran as a regional power, and the emerging roles of Afghanistan and Pakistan in the ongoing “long war” against terrorism. And we will examine the geopolitical changes in the region and the impact of the war on our armed forces, U.S. prestige and power abroad, and our own culture at home.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 260

International Human Rights

This is a survey course on the role of international human rights law in society. It will initially focus on the development of international human rights law by analyzing various global and regional treaties. The emphasis will then shift from an assessment of standard-setting to that of the implementation of human rights law. The right to food, women's rights, freedom from torture, and the death penalty will be amongst the topics of discussion. The latter half of the course will focus on the role of non-governmental organizations in advancing the implementation of international human rights law. Students will be encouraged to work on their advocacy skills through a number of exercises in class. A few leading human rights advocates will present guest lectures in class.
Not open to first-year students.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 263

Art and the Public Good

Is art a public good? Is government good for art? Students will explore these questions by examining what happens when U.S. taxpayer dollars are used to fund the arts. Course topics will include: the depression era federal arts projects and the dream of a "cultural democracy" that inspired them; the State Department's export of art across the globe during the Cold War era; the legal and congressional battles over offensive art that threatened to shut down the National Endowment for the Arts during the 1990s; and former Mayor Giuliani's attempt to withdraw funding from the Brooklyn Museum of Art following public outcry over a provocative depiction of the Virgin Mary.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 265

The Bill of Rights: A Revolution in Three Acts

The Bill of Rights, written in the 18th century, was reshaped after the Civil War in what historians have called a "second American revolution." Yet the constitutional rights we know today have been largely defined by Supreme Court decisions in the latter half of the 20th century. What forces events and personalities accounted for this "third American revolution?" How has it altered public policy and affected our day-to-day lives? How should we interpret the Bill of Rights in the Internet Age? Could a fourth rights revolution emerge in the 21st century? Or might we face a rights "counter-revolution" in the wake of the events of September 11? Students will read significant cases and related historical materials and write papers on constitutional issues.
Prerequisite: C- or better in Political Science 102, Public Policy 201or Public Policy 202 or Permission of Instructor.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 302

Law and Environment Policy

The course emphasizes how and why American environmental law has developed over the preceding three decades as a primary tool to achieve environmental goals. Topics include the analysis of policy options, "command-and-control" regulation, modification of liability rules, pollution prevention through non-regulatory means, and the environmental aspects of U.S. energy policies in relation to petroleum, electricity, and transportation. The course concludes by addressing transnational environmental issues such as atmospheric change, burgeoning population growth, depletion of forests and species, sustainable development, and the role of international legal institutions in relation to these pressing problems.
Prerequisite: Public Policy 201 or Public Policy 202 or Permission of the Instructor.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 303

Policy Implementation Workshop

Implementation, sometimes called the hidden chapter in public policy, will be explored primarily using case studies describing the practical realities of what happens after a statute is passed, a regulation is issued, a court decision is handed down, or a public or nonprofit agency decides on a course of action. The cases will be drawn primarily from areas such as education, health care, children's issues, housing and economic development, and civil rights. They will include several examples from the Hartford area and around the country in which the professor and/or guest speakers have participated. Class discussions and related exercises will emphasize students' ability to frame the salient policy and implementation challenges, identify the strengths and weaknesses of potential solutions, and present and defend their recommendations to decision makers (e.g., legislators, agency officials, and judges). Permission of the instructor is required for enrollment.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 304

Formal Analysis

Drawing upon utility theory, game theory, and social choice theory, this course examines the moral background conditions of conflict resolution, economic markets and political dilemmas, and how they function as a foundation for policy argument. We will cover the assumptions of welfare economics, the economic theory of democracy, Arrow's Paradox and problems of defining rationality, collective action, democracy and the public interest. Prerequisite: Political Science 102, 103, 104, or 105.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 306

Media & Public Policy

This course explores the nature and role of the media in American public policy and democracy. With an historical and contemporary problem approach, we will consider how different media influence public opinion, politics and public policy as well as the influences of public opinion, politics and public policy on the media. The course uses a combination of reading, exemplary guest speakers, case studies and significant classroom participation in a largely seminar format. The instructor also draws on his own experience in politics, government and as the leader of Connecticut's State Senate.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 307

Women's Rights as Human Rights

Women's Rights as Human Rights is a cross-cultural investigation of the gendered nature of human rights and of the changes in different societies that have resulted from struggles for human rights for women. Topics covered will include rights to protection against sexual abuse and gender violence (such as female genital mutilation), subsistence rights, reproductive rights, human rights and sexual orientation, and the rights of female immigrants and refugees. The course will make use of formal legal documents as well as cultural materials such as novels, films, personal testimonies, religious rituals, and folk traditions in music.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 308

Power, Values & American Public Policy

Since the birth of our Republic, the clash of competing values has often dominated the debates of communities, legislatures, Congress and the courts. In this course students refine their own views of complex ethical choices and learn how issue advocates achieve results through the American political process. Issues will include: privacy; ethical choices and policy making in health care; capital punishment; and the role of money in politics. Special attention will be devoted to the question of how public opinion is formed and the role of the mass media in that process. The major focus of the written work will be a current public plicy issue, which each student will select. The student will analyze the issue and develop a lobbying/communications action plan to achieve a specific policy change.
Prerequisite: Grade of C- or better in LEST113 or permission of instructor.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 311

Environmental Economics

An examination of the relationship between economic growth and the quality of the environment; the economic theory necessary for understanding environmental problems; analysis of proposed means, such as effluent charges, for correcting these problems; the application of cost-benefit analysis to selected environmental issues. Prerequisites: Economics 101 and 301.
Prerequisite: C- or better in Economics 101 and 301.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 313

Bioethics, Public Policy & Law

This course examines bioethics and law in relation to recent developments in medicine, public health and the life sciences. After tracing the historical background of bioethical issues and law, we will consider how issues in contemporary medicine and science challenge common ethical principles as well as existing public policy formulations. Among the issues to be considered are genetic testing, engineering, and patenting, the use of animals for organ transplantation, and the use of genetics for identification purposes in criminal prosecution. Other pertinent issues include the development of artificial intelligence, organizational changes in the delivery of medical care, assisted reproduction techniques, the interaction of biotechnology and information technology, and medical futility. The course will examine issues in their legal, ethical, and cultural context, evaluate the individual and social ethical questions raised by them, and explore the feasibility of political and legal regulation. Readings will include classic expressions of ethical standards, legal cases, legislation, and other writings that deal with ethical and legal issues in their cultural context.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 315

Privacy and Freedom in the Internet Age

This course examines the legal, ethical, and political dimensions of the novel issues raised by the Internet and related technology. Can the government search your e-mail or bank records without a court issued warrant? Can the police use a sensor outside a private home to detect the radiant heat generated by lights used to grow marijuana? The Internet empowers each of us to "filter out" materials we have not chosen in advance. Will this erode the common ground necessary for democracy to work? We will explore these and other legal and policy issues in mock Supreme Court arguments in which teams of students will brief and argue landmark cases before panels of student justices.
Prerequisite: Public Policy 201 or Public Policy 202 or Permission of the Instructor.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 316

Culture and National Security

This course addresses the impact of culture on communications and decision making in the national security arena. The class is designed to help students understand the challenges of communicating in an increasingly interconnected world between people and groups who may not hold the same core values or communications styles. It explores differing norms and national identities and their impact on the foreign policy of countries such as Japan, Germany, and the United States, as well as those in the Middle East region. The primary goals of this course are to 1) teach students to think critically and theoretically about these challenges, 2) increase their awareness of intercultural communication differences and values, and 3) gain a better understanding of the impact of national cultures on national defense, security analyses and decision-making.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 317

Cases in Environmental Policy

The course examines several major environmental issues facing the public in Connecticut through the analysis of cases that involve pollution of the air, the water, and the land. We will consider three, frequently recurring problems of environmental decision making—finding places for locally unwanted but socially necessary land uses, the inter-jurisdictional transport of pollutants, and reconciling science and politics. Students who take the course will gain a deeper understanding of public decision making in the US federal system, the empirical and normative dimensions of environmental justice, the interplay of leadership, participation and public consent, and the strategic implications of problem definition and theories of causation. Course readings will include an overview of the major US environmental programs, a text on environmental and natural resource case analysis, and selected case materials taken from the public record. Students will be graded on their contributions to class discussions, two short quizzes of their basic knowledge of the substance of the course, and their contributions to a group exercise in policy analysis. The course is offered as a complement to PBPL—302 Law and Environmental Policy. Students should find value in taking the course singly or in combination with PBPL—302.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 319

Fear, Freedom and the Constitution

Since the founding of our republic, wars and national emergencies have forced Americans to confront the tension between national security and constitutional rights. How has freedom fared in what John Kennedy called its hour of maximum danger? We explore the issues in a series of case studies from the Alien and Sedition Acts in the 18th century through the Patriot Act in the 21st century.
Prerequisite: A grade of C- or better in PBPL-201 or PBPL-202 or POLS-307 or POLS-316 or Permission of Instructor.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 321

American Legal History

America's legal system is deeply ingrained in the nations history and culture, profoundly influencing its institutions, politics, economy, and daily life. As Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., put it, 'This abstraction called the Law is a magic mirror, [in which] we see reflected...the lives of all [who] have been!' The course will address the law's relationship to fundamental historical factors, including: the continuing influence of Judeo-Christian tradition; the tension, present since colonial times, between communitarian values and public welfare, on one hand, and individual rights and private property, on the other; the gradual (and incomplete) enlargement of legal concepts of 'person,' to encompass the property-less, African-Americans and other minorities, women, gays and lesbians, aliens, and enemies the dramatic increase in federal executive and regulatory power at home, and military power abroad; and the spectacular growth and polarization of American wealth. Discussion on issues of race and violence will be stressed. The course will take a chronological and interdisciplinary approach and, in addition to standard historical texts, will utilize primary documents, short stories, plays, Hollywood movies, courtroom reenactment, and haiku poetry. A previous course in American History, or introduction to law is strongly suggested.
Prerequisite: C- or better in Political Science 102, Public Policy 201or Public Policy 202 or Permission of Instructor.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 322

Affirmative Action, Reverse Descrimination, and the Supreme Court

This course will review contemporary issues regarding race relations and the law, placing emphasis on the reading and analysis of recent Supreme Court cases interpreting the protections provided under the 13th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The areas covered by the course will include equal protection in public accommodations, education, and housing; this course will also cover the 1960's Civil Rights Movement, affirmative action and reverse discrimination.
Enrollment is limited to Junior or Senior Legal Studies Minor and / or Public Policy and Law Majors.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 323

The Legal History of Race Relations

This course will examine the interaction between the American social and legal systems in the treatment of race relations. The seminar will analyze major Supreme Court cases on equal rights and race relations with an emphasis on the historical and social contexts in which the decisions were rendered. The Socratic method will be used for many of the classes, placing importance on classroom discussion among the students and the lecturer. The goals of the course are to expose the students to the basis of the legal system and the development of civil rights legislations sharpen legal and critical analysis, improve oral expression, and develop a concise and persuasive writing style.
Prerequisite: C- or better in Public Policy 113 or Public Policy 201 or Permission of Instructor.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 324

Bioethics, Public Policy, and Law

This course examines leading issues in bioethics, public policy, and law in relation to recent developments in medicine, public health, and the life sciences. After tracing the historical background of bioethical issues and law and deciding on methods of legal and ethical analysis, we will consider how issues in contemporary medicine, public health, and science challenge traditional ethical principles as well as existing law and public policy. Among other topics, we will explore the tension between traditional biomedical ethics, centering on individual autonomy, and the public health model, focusing on the common good. In addition to key issues involving the physician-patient relationship, reproduction, and the end of life, we will consider some or all of the following subjects: human research and experimentation; genetic testing, screening, and the use of DNA databases; genetic engineering and biotechnology; organ transplantation and allocation; ownership and the commodifying of life; bioterrorism and public health; and stem cell research and cloning. Other current issues that may be covered include the interaction of biotechnology and information technology, the green revolution and genetically modified organisms, and futurist issues such as the applications of nanotechnology and artificial intelligence. Recent and ongoing legal controversies will be closely examined. The course, which will proceed as a seminar, involves critical examination of issues in their legal, ethical, economic, political, religious, and cultural contexts. We will evaluate the individual, social, and ethical questions raised, and explore the feasibility and effectiveness of legal regulation. Readings will include classic expressions of ethical standards, legal cases, legislation, pertinent fiction, and timely articles and essays that deal with ethical and legal issues in their cultural context. An important goal of the course is to encourage each student to develop a method of analyzing bioethical problems from both legal and ethical perspectives.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 325

Gender & Public Policy

Treating people justly means treating them similarly when they are relevantly similar and differently when they are relevantly different. Accordingly, if public policy is to be just in its effects on persons, it too must reflect similarities and differences among them. Profound disagreements quickly arise though when we ask which differences and similarities are relevant when, where, and how. One apparent difference between individuals is gender. When, where and how is gender relevant to public policy? This course will tackle this question by examining a variety of public policy issues which centrally involve gender in some important way. Among the issues which may be covered are gender discrimination, reproduction and public policy, alleged differences between male and female moral outlooks, and the roles that public policy can or does play in creating, sustaining, and changing gender differences and their significance. Enrollment limited.

1.00 units, Lecture

WMST 325

Gender & Public Policy

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 326

Bioterrorism, Public Health Emergencies, and the Law

This course examines issues raised by bioterrorism and public health emergencies in the context of American culture, biomedical ethics, and public policy and law. We will consider how bioterrorism and public health emergencies challenge traditional political, legal and ethical principles centering on individual autonomy and civil liberties. The course is designed to provoke thought and discussion-legal and ethical-concerning pressing issues involving major public health problems facing the United States.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 329

Senior Seminar: Advanced Topics in Law, Argument, and Constitutional Advocacy

In this course teams of students will brief, argue landmark cases in constitutional law. Many class sessions will be devoted to oral argument. Most case-based courses use texts that give students relatively brief excerpts of many cases. In this course there will be no formal text; rather, we will focus intensively on a smaller number of landmark cases. The texts will be the cases themselves: the full opinions, the actual briefs submitted by opposing counsel and transcripts or recordings of the actual oral argument before the Supreme Court. All of the great cases caused a considerable stir when they were being debated and decided. Teams of students will do in-depth research on major cases to explore the social background against which they were decided and the immediate and long-term consequences of the decisions. Prerequisites: PBPL 202 or permission of instructor. To facilitate oral arguments, enrollment will be limited to 24.
Prerequisite: PBPL 202 or permission of the instructor.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 335

Pandemics, Public Health Law, and Public Policy

This course examines legal and ethical issues raised by actual and threatened domestic and international public health emergencies. We will consider how public health emergencies caused by natural events such as Hurricane Katrina, the Southeast Asia tsunami, and the Pakistan earthquake, as well as real and potential pandemics, such as AIDS, emerging diseases, and avian flu, challenge traditional political, legal, and ethical principles that center on individual autonomy and civil liberties. Special emphasis will be placed on developing effective public policy to deal with events occurring in the U.S. and in the global community. Course readings will cover fundamentals of public health law and ethics as well as accounts of relevant events.
Prerequistie: Public Policy 201 or Permission of the Instructor

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 337

Advanced Constitutional Law and Advocacy

In this course teams of students will brief, argue landmark cases in constitutional law. Many class sessions will be devoted to oral argument. Most case-based courses use texts that give students relatively brief excerpts of many cases. In this course there will be no formal text; rather, we will focus intensivelyon a smaller number of landmark cases. The texts will be the cases themselves: the full opinions, the actual briefs submitted by opposing counsel and transcripts or recordings of the actual oral argument before the Supreme Court. All of the great cases caused a considerable stir when they were being debated and decided. Teams of students will do in-depth research on major cases to explore the social background against which they were decided and the immediate and long-term consequences of the decisions. To facilitate oral arguments, enrollment will be limited to 24.
Prerequisite: PBPL 202 or permission of the instructor.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 342

Secularism and the Problem of Authority

This course sets secularism beyond its traditional association with the non- or anti- religious, and explores it as a family of ideas concerning the scope and limits of authority. Using resources and tools from the humanities and social sciences, and drawing from different historical periods and cultures, we will examine a variety of secular models of authority. These models pertain to political authority; the authority of science and other forms of expertise in education, medicine, law, and industry; and the exercise of authority in moral and aesthetic judgments.
Prerequisite: C- or better in Public Policy 113 or Public Policy 201 or Permission of Instructor.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 344

Seeking JUSTICE in American Life: Examining ethical thinking and decision-making in politics, law, a

This course will examine basic theories of ethics (common morality), found in moral and political philosophy in order to consider the extent to which traditional ethical and moral principles govern legal, political, and private decision-making. We will begin by identifying ethical and moral principles in our founding documents before proceeding with the main work of the course, which is to examine the ethical and moral reasoning behind legal and policy decisions, business decisions, and personal decisions. Among the diverse subjects that will be discussed are physician-assisted suicide, the death penalty, buying and selling of body parts, human cloning, legalizing drugs, affirmative action, national service in war, hate speech and political dissent, wealth and income distribution including disbursing public money to private business, individual rights versus the needs of the community, torture, truth and lying in private and public, equality and inequality, drug-enhancement in sports, immoral behavior on the part of public figures.
Prerequisite: C- or better in PBPL 201 or PBPL 202 or permission of the instructor.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 345

The Judicial Role in Shaping Public Policy

The claim that judges and courts engage in policy-making and, therefore, in the political process, often appears to conflict with the idea that they ought to be above politics. A traditional view is that judges should identify pertinent law and apply it to the facts of a case. In this view, judges are supposed to say what the law is, not make law. In reality, judicial decision-making and judicial policy-making are coincident and inseparable activities. Public policy is established as the inevitable consequence of deciding disputes. Every decision rewards some interests and deprives others. This course considers the role of the judiciary as a political institution and examines and evaluates the wide range of circumstances in which judges and courts influence or create policy. Although some decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court will be considered, the seminar will examine the role of state as well as federal courts, and trial as well as appellate courts.
Prerequistie: Public Policy 201 or Permission of the Instructor

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 347

Leading Issues in Bioethics, Public Policy, and Law

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 348

Constitutional Law & Advocacy

In this course teams of students will brief and argue landmark cased in constitutional law that were decided by a Supreme Court dominated by justices appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, who was elected in 1968 and impeached in 1974. A strong case can be made that he had a greater influence on the development of constitutional law than any president or justice of the 20th century. The tests for the course will be the cased themselves: the full opinions, the actual briefs submitted by opposing counsel and transcripts or recordings of the actual oral argument before the Supreme Court. Teams of students will do in-depth research on major cases to explore the social background against which they were decided and the immediate and long-term consequences of the decisions themselves.
Prerequisite: PBPL 202 or permission of the instructor.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 349

A History of the Common Law

This course will survey significant developments in the common law from the Norman Conquest through the supremacy of Parliament. Topics for discussion will include the hue and cry, feud and ordeal, trial by jury, and the writ of trespass. Special emphasis will be placed on the Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest as limitations on royal authority. The course will examine the differing approaches to justice offered by the royal and church courts. The course will also include case discussions to highlight key concepts in the growth of the common law, including stare decisis. Textbooks will include Charles Rembar, The Law of the Land: The Evolution of Our Legal System; Peter Linebaugh, The Magna Carta Manifesto; Frederic Maitland, History of English Law; and William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 350

Inside the Nonprofit Sector

This course will provide students with a firm grounding in the role of the nonprofit sector (also called the independent, third, or voluntary sector) in American public policy and community life. Topics to be studied include: the nature and role of the nonprofit sector; what makes the nonprofit sector distinctive; current challenges facing the nonprofit sector; the role of foundations and other sources of philanthropic giving; and assessment of the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 360

International Human Rights

1.00 units, Seminar

POLS 364

Culture and National Security

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 365

Crime, Punishment, and Public Policy

This course will introduce students to the public policy dimensions of crime and punishment in America. We will examine theories of punishment, the structure of the criminal justice system, and the role of the courts in defining the constitutional rights of the accused. Course materials will include novels, policy texts, films, and court cases.
Prerequisite: C- or better in Political Science 102, Public Policy 201or Public Policy 202 or Permission of Instructor.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 377

Law, Gender, and the Supreme Court

This course introduces students to contemporary gender issues as they have been treated both in the law and in the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. We will explore some of the historical antecedents to contemporary legal gender questions and then examine in detail the following areas of controversy: sex discrimination, affirmative action, family law, reproductive rights, and pornography.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 380

Current Controversies in Law, Science, and Public Police

Over the past decade Americans have engaged in vigorous debate about a variety of important issues that require us to think clearly about the relationship between science, law, and public policy. Recently, issues like climate change, Gardasil vaccine, and stem cell research have captured the headlines and generated considerable controversy among politicians who often disagree about the veracity of scientific evidence. We will explore the debates surrounding the role of science in the making of public policy and consider the way in which the Obama administration is likely to adopt an approach toward these vexing and often divisive issues that differs significantly from the one implemented by President George W. Bush.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 400

Senior Project

Submission of the special registration form, available in the Registrar's Office, and the approval of the instructor and director are required for enrollment in this single-semester project. (1 course credit to be completed in one semester.)

1.00 units, Independent Study

PBPL 401

Current Issues: The Supreme Court and Public Policy

This seminar will focus on the Supreme Court in transition. We will explore competing theories of constitutional interpretation that have characterized the Rehnquist court and examine specific cases that are representative of the court's work. We will study contending theories of the Supreme Court's role in our constitutional framework, and we will consider how new appointees to the court may shift the balance in important areas of jurisprudence that have become increasinly contentious, especially with respect to issues of personal autonomy, affirmative action, and national security.
Prerequisite: Course is only open to Senior Public Policy and Law Majors.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 403

Hartford Research Internship Seminar

This one-credit course combines an internship at a nonprofit or public agency with class discussions to provide an inside look at how agencies establish and carry out their missions. The focus is on how agencies implement their strategic goals, taking into account practical issues of program design, financing, evaluation, staffing, and community relations. Two moderate-length papers are required: one analyzing the agency in which the student is interning, the other addressing a public policy issue that the student identifies in the course of his or her internship.
Prerequisite: Public Policy 201 or Public Policy 202 or Permission of the Instructor.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 404

The Making of the President

The outcome of this election will shape the United States for years to come. This course examines both the substantive issues and the way the candidates make their cases. How should our next president deal with such issues as healthcare, the economy and the war in Iraq? How is the Internet reshaping American politics? How many Americans in the year 2020 look back on what have done?
Course is only open to Senior Public Policy majors.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 405

Senior Seminar: Advanced Topics in Law, Argument, and Constitutional Advocacy

In this seminar, teams of students will brief, argue, and write opinions on landmark cases in constitutional law. Many class sessions will be devoted to oral argument. The texts will be the cases themselves: the full opinions, the actual briefs submitted by opposing counsel and transcripts or recordings of the actual oral argument before the Supreme Court. Teams of students will undertake in-depth written research on major cases to explore the social background against which they were decided, and the immediate and long-term consequences of the decisions.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 466

Teaching Assistantship

Submission of the special registration form, available in the Registrar's Office, and the approval of the instructor and director are required for enrollment.

0.50 units min / 1.00 units max, Independent Study

PBPL 490

Research Assistantship

Submission of the special registration form, available in the Registrar's Office, and the approval of the instructor and chairman are required for enrollment.

1.00 units, Independent Study

PBPL 497

Senior Thesis

Submission of the special registration form, available in the Registrar's Office, and the approval of the instructor and director are required for enrollment in this single-semester thesis. (1 course credit to be completed in one semester.)

1.00 units, Independent Study

PBPL 498

Senior Thesis Part 1

No Course Description Available.

2.00 units, Independent Study

PBPL 499

Senior Thesis Part 2

No Course Description Available.

2.00 units, Independent Study

PBPL 802

The Rehnquist Court and Public Policy

The Rehnquist Court is the frequent target of both stinging criticism and high praise. This seminar will focus on the Rehnquist Court and constitutional interpretation, a topic of great interest to legal and public policy scholars. In the first part of the course we will familiarize ourselves with current controversies about the meaning judicial review and whether the Supreme Court is—or should be--the most authoritative interpreter of the Constitution. We will pay special attention to the Rehnquist Court’s approach to these questions. In the second part of the course we will apply our understanding of current constitutional interpretation to areas of jurisprudence in which the Rehnquist Court has been particularly active and which involve issues of religion, morality, and personal autonomy.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 803

Policy Implementation Workshop

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 805

Enviromental Justice: Linking Social Research and Public Policy

This course will examine the role of social science research in defining "environmental racism" and "environmental justice," reshaping the environmental movement, and influence public policy. Published in 1987, the first national study of the demographic patterns associated with the location of hazardous waste sites inspired the formation of local advocacy groups and legal challenges to prevailing practices. The methodology, data, and application of this study will be examined for its role and use in these efforts, in other research projects, and in subsequent policy-making development, such as President's Clinton's Executive Order on Environmental Justice in 1994. Finally, comparisons with and links to international and global policies concerning environmental justice will be discussed.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 806

Methods of Research

This course is intended to empower students to evaluate common forms of research critically, and to give them some experience in conducting research. Through a series of weekly assignments and class projects, students will be introduced to the shaping of research questions; hypothesis testing, writing a research paper, conducting interviews and surveys, giving a professional presentation, and presenting simple tabular data to prove a point. The course does not require an extensive mathematics background. Regular attendance and access to a computer, e-mail, and the Web are expected.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 807

Introduction to the Policy-Making Process

This introductory course in political institutions and the process of making public policy in the United States should be taken as one of the first two courses in the graduate program. The class will concern itself with the role of Congress, the executive, and the judicial branches of government in the origination of policy ideas, the formulation of policy problems, and the setting of the public agenda, the making of political choices, the production of policy statutes and rules, and the affects of final government action on citizens. Special focus will be placed on the cooperation and conflicts between these traditional institutions of government and the agents of American pluralism: political parties and interest groups.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 808

Public Policy and the Art of the Argument

This course will examine the history, methods, and types of successful, formal, written argumentation in policy advocacy. Among the arenas explored will be courts of law, legislative bodies, and the broader field of public opinion. Most course material will be drawn from case studies.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 809

Illegal Drugs and Public Policy

Policies towards psychoactive substances produce enormous consequences for society. Drug policies also reflect a society's approach to pleasure, freedom, work, cultural minorities and medicine. In this course we will begin with an examination of drug policy in historical and cross-cultural perspectives, and then focus on the American experience. We will review the panoply of psychoactive drugs, and the various laws and agencies enacted to control them. We will discuss the history of the War on Drugs since the 1960's, its consequences in the criminal justice system and US foreign policy, and potential alternatives. We will review research on the nature of addiction and the efficacy of drug treatment, and the approaches to harm reduction being explored in Europe. Finally we will explore the DARE program and the campaigns against drunk driving and for medical marijuana. Students will be asked to write and present a set of research papers on these topics.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 810

Mathematics of Social Choice

How are individual preferences fashioned into a group's single social choice; and what are the natural and man-made obstacles to a fair and just result? Does the majority "rule," in spite of insincere voting, bogus amendments, fixed agendas, and the intransitivity of society? Can cumulative voting thwart the tyranny of the majority? Why are the group's "new members" problematic and can their "quarreling" be quelled? Are the measured powers of the President and Congress "separate but equal?" What can possibly be left after Arrow's Impossibility Theorem? After all is said and done, is a dictatorship so bad?

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 811

Community Development: Principles and Practice

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 813

The Conservative Movement in America

A study of the contemporary conservative movement in American politics. The course examines the history of modern conservatism from its emergence in the 1960’s to its triumph in the 1980’s. We examine the three main streams of conservative thought in America: economic conservatives, neo-conservative libertarians, and religious conservatives. The course concludes by exploring tensions between these strains of conservatism that have become evident as the GOP tries to hold them together as the most powerful force in contemporary American politics.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 819

From Rehnquist to Alito: The Future of the Supreme Court

This course will explore changes in the Supreme Court resulting from the death of Justice Rehnquist, the retirement of Justice O’Connor, and the nomination of new justices. In addition to a consideration of how and why the nomination process has become politicized over the past 30 years, we will also focus on President Bush’s recent Supreme Court nominees: John Roberts, Harriet Miers, and Samuel Alito. We will conclude with a discussion of the future direction the Supreme Court is likely to take.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 820

Microeconomics Theory & Policy

Examines the economic system by looking at its constituent parts. Emphasis is given to the causes of "market failure" (in contrast to market functioning) and potential application of the theory in policy settings. Prerequisite: Economics 801 or equivalent.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 822

Motivation & Mechanisms

Policy making in a variety of contexts requires the analyst to have an understanding of the social life that gives rise to the policy question. Using the common-sense idea that social phenomena are the result of the actions and interactions of individuals, we will compare explanations built on a single motivation (rationality) with those drawing on multiple motivations (rationality, social norms, emotions). Topics may include addiction, institutional and organizational design, social control, hypocrisy and social convention, and ethnic conflict. Authors may include, G. Becker, R. Ellickson, J. Elster, D. Gambetta, T. Kuran, and T. Schelling. Prerequisite: Public Policy 821 or 832. Enrollment limited.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 825

Policy Implementation Workshop

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 828

Theory of Democratic Institutions

This course fulfills the formal analysis requirement for master's candidates and duplicates PBPL 828-01. Formal Analysis. Students who previously enrolled in PBPL 828-01 should not enroll in this course since it is a duplication.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 829

Organizations and Society

This course focuses on the development and application of theories of formal organizations. The course analyzes conceptions of bureaucracy and the ideological dimensions of organizational analysis. Other topics include the classical managerial model, human relations, decision-making theory, organizational control, organizations and their environments, power, and change.
Prerequisite: Prior Sociology course or permission of the instructor. Course not open to first-year students.

1.00 units, Lecture

ECON 832

Public Economics

No Course Description Available.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 832

Public Economics

No Course Description Available.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 833

Crime,Punishmnt,Pub Pol

No Course Description Available.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 836

Moral Theory and Public Policy

The purpose of this course is to assist students in acquiring the skill in ethical reasoning and analysis needed for mature participation in society’s continuing debates over moral issues of public concern. The course will begin by examining some types of ethical theories and will proceed to consider a number of controversial social issues. Abortion, euthanasia, racial and sexual discrimination, world hunger, treatment of animals, and capital punishment are among the topics to be considered

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 837

Gender & Public Policy

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 839

Religion, Sexuality, and the Law

This course will examine the debates over sexual morality in light of Constitutional protections for religious liberty in the United States. Do laws regulating sexual behavior further a legitimate government interest or do they unconstitutionally impose sectarian moral codes in violation of the First Amendment? We will focus on contemporary debates over abortion and gay rights.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 841

Health and Emerging Biotechnologies

No Course Description Available.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 842

Globalization & Pub Pol

No Course Description Available.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 843

Fed Courts&Amer Pub Pol

No Course Description Available.

1.00 units, Seminar

ECON 845

Health Policy

No Course Description Available.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 845

Health Policy

No Course Description Available.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 846

Policy Analysis

In policy analysis, we focus on the problems of empirical policy analysis: defining the problem, framing the questions to be answered, picking the location and scope of the study, selecting the metrics of analysis, aligning metrics with public values, collecting evidence, and transforming the evidence into data. The readings and weekly discussions are avenues for students to query themselves on the problems they must solve to advance their own research agendas. Students will complete a major project in empirical policy analysis. Enrollment limited.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 847

Diversity and Democracy

What is the impact of increasing religious and cultural diversity on American democratic culture and institutions? Grounded in classical theories of the function of religion in maintaining social order, this seminar addresses 1) the changing place of religion in American public life historically, 2) the shift from a public culture of communal values to one that emphasizes individual rights, and 3) contemporary debates about religious diversity.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 848

Religion, Economy and Society

An examination of economic behavior as expressive of cultural assumptions and values that define rules of appropriateness and fairness, and instill economic behavior with meaning. Beginning with the classic insights of Weber, Mauss, and Gertz, the class proceeds to explore the relationship between economic and cultural change in contemporary western societies.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 849

Religion and Public Policy

A survey of contemporary public policy debates involving the role of religion in American public life, with a focus on the questions of charitable choice, school vouchers, and the involvement of religious organizations in the political process.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 850

Public Policy and the Politics of Power

This course will examine the executive, legislative, and judicial relationships which help to shape our complex three-branch system of government. We will analyze the core roles and influences of each individual branch on the formation and implementation of public policy, focusing on the functions of each, as well as the issues that arise when such functions overlap or conflict, as has recently been the case with the issue of presidential war powers and the congressional enactment of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). How do the different considerations of each branch affect policy goals currently, and how will these varying perspectives affect the future of policy-making?

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 851

Living Healthier and Longer: Public Policy Opportunities and Challenges

Healthy life expectancy around the world continues to increase, and emerging technologies promise even more radical longevity. But many policy makers see a crushing burden on medicine and social services from the shifting "old age dependency ratio" and health care costs as society ages. In this course we will review the factors that have contributed to longevity, and promise to do so in the future. We will review the relationship of aging to disease and disability, and approaches to retirement and senior care around the world. We will explore the idea of a "longevity dividend" to be gained from extended healthy longevity, which may balance out the additional burdens of sick and disabled seniors. We will explore trends in informatics, home care, implants, gene therapy, and pharmaceuticals that may offer additional longevity. Students will conduct several research projects on topics related to aging, longevity, and public policy. (Warning: this class may extend your life.)

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 852

Modern Day Campaigns, Politics, and the Media: How They Influence Public Policy

No Course Description Available.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 853

Current Controversies in Law, Science, and Public Police

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 854

Leading Issues in Bioethics, Public Policy, and Law

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 861

War and Public Policy: Vietnam and Iraq

This course will examine the public policy debates surrounding United States' involvement in the Vietnam and Iraq Wars, in the context of larger contemporary conflicts (the Cold War and War on Terrorism). We will study the policy rationales and contested constitutional mechanisms employed to commit the nation to these wars, and the public policy challenges presented by actual warfighting circumstances, including particularly issues of soldier conduct, treatment of civilians and prisoners, establishing goals and measuring success or failure, use of conventional v. unconventional weapons and tactics, and media coverage and information control. Students will be asked to compare the two wars from a public policy perspective, and debate their "lessons".

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 864

Supreme Court

For much of its recent history, the Supreme Court has been called upon to resolve many complex and often controversial public policy questions. The current term is no exception. By July of 2004, the Court will decide cases on a diverse set of issues, including the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance, the rights of death row inmates, the constitutionality of campaign finance laws, and the rights of disabled Americans. The purpose of this course is two-fold: (1) to understand the role of the Supreme Court as a policy making branch of government and (2) to use decisions in the current term, many of which will be handed down during the time our course will meet in June and July, as a means of assessing the scope of the Court’s power to shape public policy in areas where there is little political consensus. Readings will include texts and articles on the role of the Supreme Court and several of the cases decided this term.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 865

The Supreme Court & Public Policy: 1999-2000

Over the past 30 years, the Supreme Court has been called upon to resolve many important and often controversial public policy questions. The 1999-2000 term is no exception. By July of 2000, the Court will decide cases on a diverse set of issues, including the visitation rights of grandparents; the first amendment rights of anti-abortion protesters and students who lead prayers in public schools; the right of the New Jersey Boy Scouts to deny membership to homosexuals; and the status of the landmark 1966 Miranda ruling (the right to remain silent). The purpose of this course is two-fold: (1) to familiarize students with the role of the Supreme Court as policy maker; and (2) to use decisions in the current term, many of which will be handed down during the time our course will meet in June and July, as a means of assessing the scope of the Court's power to shape public policy in areas where there is little political consensus. Readings will include texts and articles on the role of the Supreme Court and several of the cases decided this term.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 866

The Conservative Movement

The Conservative Movement A study of the contemporary conservative movement in American politics. The course examines the history of modern conservatism from its emergence in the 1960s to its triumph in the 1980s. We examine the three main streams of conservative thought in America: economic conservatives, neo-conservative libertarians, and religious conservatives. The course concludes by exploring tensions between these strains of conservatism that have become evident as the GOP tries to hold them together as the most powerful force in contemporary American politics.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 867

Affirmative Action: The Public Policy Debate

This course will explore the educational, political, and legal dimensions of the public policy debate around the issue of affirmative action. Readings will focus on the history and evolution of affirmative action as well as the case law that has shaped the policy, including the current Michigan cases that the Supreme Court will decide this term.

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 868

Obama in Afghanistan: Policy Options for a Strategic Prize

Once a graveyard for British and Soviet armed forces, Afghanistan is now a strategic epicenter of terrorism and a 21st-century prize for the United States. This course will examine the policy options facing the Obama administration in its determination to bolster the Afghan government, defeat the resurgent Taliban, and deny al Qaeda terrorists a safe haven. What are the views of the U.S. military command, the Pentagon, the National Security Council, and the State Department? How should the United States and its allies assist Afghans to stabilize the country, arrest the rise of Taliban extremists and destroy al Qaeda sanctuaries in the northeast provinces and tribal agencies of Pakistan? We will assess the blend of special operations, counterinsurgency, economic development and governance plans and regional diplomacy on the table for this delicate political and military mission. The stakes are high: the emerging regional strategy will define future U.S. policy toward Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan--and American international prestige for years to come.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 877

Law, Gender, and the Supreme Court

1.00 units, Lecture

PBPL 911

Happiness and Public Policy

This course will examine what makes people happy, and whether public policy should try to make people happy. We will examine distinctions between pleasure, happiness, well-being and the good life, and the emerging empirical literature on "positive psychology." We will explore the theories of economic rationality and how they are contradicted by contemporary research on hedonic prediction. We will compare the ways that liberals and free marketers have interpreted happiness research to validate their preferred public policies. We will weigh evidence on the effects of anti-depressants, stimulants and other drugs on individual and social happiness, and the public policy questions about regulating prescription and recreational drugs. We will read about alternatives to utilitarian calculations of quality-of-life or the happiness of populations as outcome measures for public policy, such as Amartya Sen's 'capabilities' approach.

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 912

Happiness and Public Policy

1.00 units, Seminar

PBPL 940

Independent Study

Selected topics in special areas are available by arrangement with the instructor and written approval of the director of public policy studies. Contact the Office of Graduate Studies for the special approval form.

1.00 units min / 2.00 units max, Independent Study

PBPL 950

Community Research and Public Policy

This independent study will include a research project conducted for an area non-profit organization dealing with public policy issues. Projects are available in such fields as transportation, education, and community economic development. Students will meet with a professor to develop a reading list appropriate to the project and the student's interests. They will be exposed to theoretical and case-study literature keyed to the field in which they will perform research. During the course, students will participate in group activities, including an orientation to the City of Hartford and independent field research with a minimum of 5-7 hours a week. The course will conclude with development of a report and a presentation.

1.00 units, Independent Study

PBPL 953

Research Project

A research project on a special topic approved by the instructor and with the written approval of the director of public policy studies. Contact the Office of Graduate Studies for the special approval form. One course credit.

1.00 units, Independent Study

PBPL 954

Thesis Part I

Two credit thesis: start time-approval of idea, initial bibliography, and sketch of the project by pre-registration time for graduate students in the term prior to registration for the credit; first draft by reading week of the second semester, "final" first draft by end of spring vacation week; final copy due one week before the last day of classes.

2.00 units, Independent Study

PBPL 955

Thesis Part II

No Course Description Available.

2.00 units, Independent Study

PBPL 956

Thesis

No Course Description Available.

2.00 units, Independent Study

PBPL 999

Internship

No Course Description Available.

1.00 units, Independent Study