Introduction to Law in the Political Arena (230-DL-20)

Instructors

Daniel Encinas Zevallos

Meeting Info

Online: TBA

Overview of class

This course explores how law and politics shape each other. Law is an instrument of power, an arena of contestation, a political outcome, and a source of social order. Rather than seeing law as purely objective or neutral, we will study the historical struggles behind the creation of legal systems, the connection between the Rule of Law and democracy, and the challenges to legal order arising from authoritarian and democratic contexts. We will also examine the growing role of courts in politics, the political roots of mass incarceration, and the rise of international human rights law. By the end of the course, you will understand key concepts, theories, and methods used in the social sciences to study law and politics, and you will be able to think more critically about the political causes and consequences of the legal world surrounding you.

This course is conducted completely online. A technology fee will be added to tuition.

Foundational disciplines / distribution: social sciences. Meets requirement for course that applies perspectives on power, justice, and equity within the U.S.

Registration Requirements

Note: This course is limited to School of Professional Studies students only. Undergraduate students in other schools at Northwestern are not permitted to enroll in this course.
Prerequisites: none

Class Attributes

Asynchronous:Remote class-no scheduled mtg time