Syllabus: V540

Law and Public Affairs

Fall 2009 Monday & Wednesday 1:00-2:15 AM

PV 272

Kenneth Richards

Office: SPEA Rm. 410

Telephone: 855-5971

Email:  kenricha@indiana.edu

Office Hours: MW 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Website: www.spea.indiana.edu/kenricha

Course Objectives

·        To prepare you to deal with the legal issues related to public affairs, particularly if you are planning on employment in the public sector.

·        To promote your insight into the fundamental purpose of public and administrative law. To help you appreciate generalizable principles that hold true across many applications in law.

·        To introduce you to the basic concepts of public and administrative law.

·        To help you understand the structure of the legal system.

·        To provide you with the opportunity to explore how the concepts can be applied in practice.

·        To learn how to apply various types of law - case, statutory and constitutional - to practical applications.

·        To keep you out of jail during your long and illustrious public service career.

Student Responsibilities

1.         Attend class, read assignments, and participate in class discussions and exercises.

2.         Take all tests in a timely manner.

I tend to use a semi-Socratic method in class.  This means I will be calling on you to explain or discuss concepts and cases in class.  It will behoove you to have all readings completed before class and be ready to discuss them. 

Readings and Materials

1. Cooper. 2007. Pubic Law and Public Administration. Fourth Edition. Thompson-Wadsworth. (Hereinafter, Cooper).

2. Cooper. 2005. Cases on Public Law and Public Administration. Thompson-Wadsworth.(Hereinafter, Cooper Cases).

3. Sundry articles and chapters posted to this class website.

This is a graduate course.  How much reading you do is largely up to you. The more of the materials you read, the more you will know.  The more you discuss the ideas among yourselves, the more you will understand.

I will rely heavily on the class website to disseminate class materials.  Please check regularly for new and updated materials.

Course Grades

Your grade in this class will be based on the following:

Exam 1:                                        35%

Final Exam:                                   50%

Class exercises and participation:    15%

Total:                                          100%

Extra Credit Paper                        10%

Exams are cumulative.  The translation of numbers to grades will follow the standard format:

100-110 - A+

93-100   - A

90-92   - A-

87-89   - B+

83-86   - B

80-82   - B-

...and so on. At the end of the semester I round the weighted sum of number grades to the nearest integer before assigning a letter grade. 

Individual Papers

Rather than give an optional extra exam, I will provide the option to do an extra credit paper.  If for reasons of grades or excessive intellectual curiosity your would like to undertake a research paper on the topic of your choice I will assign up to an extra 10 points to your course grade.  Here are the parameters for the assignment:

• The paper is not to exceed ten pages, double spaced, one inch margins, 11 point font, not including bibliography.

• You can choose the topic of the paper, but the choice is subject to my approval. 

• You must declare your intent and have agreement with me on a negotiated topic by the end of the first week of November.

• The grading scale will be from -5 to 10 points.  If you declare your intent to submit a paper and then fail to do so, or if the submission is so slovenly that it is a waste of my time to read it, you will receive -5 points on your final class grade (a reduction of half a letter grade). If the paper is so good that I am impressed enough to think you should head off to the U.S. Justice Department, then you will receive 10 extra points (a full letter grade) on your class grade.  I expect most grades assigned to these optional papers will be positive but less than 10 points.

Attendance

You are expected to attend all classes.  If you are unable to attend class, please notify me by e-mail ahead of time.

Academic Misconduct

I will not tolerate academic misconduct.  The Indiana University Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities and Conduct, Section III A discusses student academic misconduct. You can find this information on the website at http://dsa.indiana.edu/Code/index1.html. Any student found cheating or engaging in other academic misconduct will receive a failing grade for the course and will be reported to the Dean of Student Affairs.  Other sanctions are possible.   On average, I have had to fail one student per semester for the past several semesters due to academic misconduct, and the rate of failure is increasing.  I hate doing this.  

Class Schedule and Assignments

The class schedule should be considered flexible, subject to change as I learn more about your interests and the speed with which we can move through the material.  The following will help you plan your readings and schedule times for the assignments and exams, but should not be considered fixed.

Reading Assignments and Class Schedule

Reading assignments should be completed before class on the day they are assigned. This schedule is subject to change and updating as the course progresses, based on class progress and interests.

THIS SYLLABUS IS SUBJECT TO REVISION AND SHOULD ALWAYS BE CONSIDERED TO BE IN DRAFT FORM. CONFIRM DEADLINES IN ADVANCE.