Political Science 227
Constitutionalism and National Security
Beloit College
Fall 2007
Course Objectives
In this course, we will explore constitutionalism and national security in the United States through the study of law, history, current events, and the interplay of government institutions.
The assigned reading and writing, along with class discussion and lecture, are designed to promoted an understanding of the institutional and structural components of constitutional government that contribute to the protection of civil liberties and a stable political order in the U.S. Taking seriously the challenges of national security as well as the protection of freedom, we will consider what actions or measures might best meet the demands of both.
Requirements
- Class preparation, attendance and participation
The class will involve critical analysis and discussion of the assigned texts, so attendance, preparation and participation are ESSENTIAL. You should come to each class with a good grasp of the assigned reading and your own perspective toward it.
Class participation involves asking or answering questions about specific aspects of the assigned reading, posing or responding to broader questions about the implications of these readings, raising new topics for discussion and/or constructively engaging comments made by others during our discussions. You will learn much from others, and others will learn much from you, but only if you speak and listen well. These are not mutually exclusive activities.
I may sometimes ask you to prepare an informal piece of writing, in class or beforehand, to facilitate discussion. I may also ask you to post comments in a forum on Moodle. I will take the effort and insight you offer in such pieces into consideration when determining your participation grade for the course.
Consistency in attendance is important for your own learning, as well as for maintaining continuity in class discussions and for building trust and rapport among your peers.
I expect you to attend class unless you are ill or must deal with a personal or family emergency, and I expect that if you are dealing with such a situation, you will contact me in person or by phone in a timely manner (i.e., before class). Excessive unexcused absences (i.e., more than three) will result in a substantial grade penalty.
Because we will rely on close textual analysis in our discussions, you should ALWAYS bring the assigned book to class. Some readings will be available online, either through a Web link or on Moodle. THESE READINGS ARE NOT OPTIONAL. You should either print these out and mark them as necessary or take extensive notes to which you can refer during class discussion and in preparation for exams and essays.
Your assigned reading for each day is outlined in the schedule that follows. If you ever encounter difficulty in accessing any of these readings, please contact me as soon as possible to alert me to that fact. Problems encountered due to a typo in the syllabus or glitches in photocopying do not amount to an automatic “bye” for that day’s assignments.
I have done my best to lay out a realistic schedule for reading and discussing a number of different kinds of texts for this course. Some are easier to cover in a concise manner than others, and some will ignite more and/or less class discussion than I anticipated. To me, the ebb and flow of student discussion is an integral part of the learning experience, but it does demand flexibility on all of our parts. We may well sometimes fall behind in the syllabus due to an extended discussion of a particular aspect of the reading or unfolding news event.
Unless otherwise stated, I expect you to adhere to the schedule outlined here. My advice: DO NOT FALL BEHIND IN THE READINGS FOR THIS CLASS. Without adequate preparation, you will find that class discussion benefits you very little, and you will find it difficult to catch up.
If you feel that the class has somehow ignored or shortchanged an issue or question that you think is central to our understanding of constitutionalism and national security, bring it up. Your peers and I will appreciate your input, and we will attempt to address your questions in class. If that is not possible, you are more than welcome to consult with me during my office hours.
- Keeping abreast of current events
Constitutional government and national security challenges are not insects cast in amber but continue to shape and reflect unfolding events. Therefore, it is essential that you keep abreast of the news, remaining particularly sensitive to those stories that hold relevance for this course. You need to read either the New York Times or the Washington Post every day. Subscriptions for campus delivery of the NYT are available on campus at a discounted rate. You may also receive the Washington Postby mail, or you can read either paper online.
I encourage you to bring up relevant news stories at the beginning of our class meetings. I will also occasionally print out a story for discussion. Your performance on news quizzes (five during the course of the semester) will constitute 10% of your final grade.
- Midterm
The midterm will be an hour-long, in-class exam, consisting of short-answer and essay questions.
- Essays
You will complete two five-page essays in this course. I will hand out suggested topics a week before those essays are due.
- Policy proposal and presentation
Your final project for the course will involve writing a policy memo that identifies a specific issue or problem related to constitutionalism and national security, accurately describes it and its context, including any relevant history, law, and current conditions, proposes a preferred solution, justifies it, and outlines the anticipated outcomes. You will present your findings to the class as well.
Academic Honesty
Submitting original work is central to your life as a student and to our collaborative work as a community of learners. If you submit the work of others as your own, you have lost sight of what it means to be a student. Rather than learning, you seem only interested in pretending to complete assignments, and you have destroyed the relationship of trust and respect that should exist in a classroom.
For these reasons, I take academic honesty very seriously and expect you to understand, and to follow, Beloit’s policy on academic honesty printed in the Student Handbook.
Simply put, you must give credit where credit is due. This includes not only acknowledging direct quotes with quotation marks and proper citation but also correctly citing any sources – including online ones – from which you have drawn insight or information in each instance where you have benefited from such sources, including when you paraphrase.
Expectations Regarding Writing
Assignments should be handed in at the beginning of class on the day that they are due. I also expect you to be prepared for class on the day that you hand in an assignment.
Late papers will be penalized one grade increment per day. If you need to seek an extension, you can vastly enhance the likelihood of receiving one by planning ahead and requesting it at least three days prior to the due date of the assignment. You may have only one extension for the semester. No extensions will be granted for the final project and no late papers will be accepted for that project.
Without prior arrangement, papers will not be accepted later than two weeks after they are due. Papers which exceed this deadline or are not submitted will receive a zero.
Special note: Make back-ups of your work. Do not expect that you will receive automatic — or lengthy — extensions because you experience computer problems.
I expect papers to be neatly typed and double-spaced with realistic margins and fonts (e.g., 1" margins on all sides and a 10 or 12-point font, depending on the style). If you have questions about the latter, ask me. Citations should consistently follow the APSA style. Guidelines for this style can be found at http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocAPSA.html.
I also expect your papers to exhibit a working knowledge of grammar and spelling. You should proofread your work even if you have spelling and grammar checks on your computer. Papers with egregious spelling or grammatical errors will be returned.
Please remember to number the pages of your papers. It improves my mood tremendously if you complete this simple task.
Papers that are not stapled will be returned. As a college student, you should now own a stapler.
Students with Disabilities
If you have a disability and would like to speak to someone about possible accommodations, please visit the LSSC (Learning Support Services Center) located on the first floor of 635 College St. You will need to provide appropriate documentation of your disability to Diane Arnzen, Director of the LSSC. If you wish to receive accommodations in my class please provide me the LSSC Accommodation Verification Letter dated for this semester as soon as possible so your learning needs may be appropriately met.
| Grading |
|
| Class Participation |
15% |
| News Quizzes |
10% |
| Essays |
30% |
| Midterm |
15% |
| Final Project |
30% (Presentation = 10%; Final Proposal = 20%) |
| Important Dates to Remember |
| September 22 |
Essay I due |
| October 6 |
Topic Description due |
| October 13 |
Midterm |
| November 13 |
Essay II due |
| December 6-15 |
Policy Presentations |
| December 19 |
Policy Proposal due (no late papers accepted) |
Books to Buy
Bruce Ackerman. Before the Next Attack. Yale University Press, 2006.
David B. Cohen and John W. Wells (eds). American National Security and Civil Liberties in an Era of Terrorism. Palgrave MacMillan, 2004.
Louis Fisher. Military Tribunals and Presidential Power. University Press of Kansas, 2005.
Louis Fisher. Presidential War Power, Second Edition. University Press of Kansas, 2004.
John Yoo. The Power of War and Peace. The University of Chicago Press, 2005.
Course Schedule (Subject to Revision)
Note: Generally, we will use fourth hours for discussion of current events and work on final projects. There are a few dates listed here with assigned readings, usually when we are forced to miss a class on another day of the week. We may not meet every week. Only the Tuesdays that involve specific reading assignments or policy proposal discussions are listed here; other meetings and any assignments involved with them will be announced in class.
| August |
| 29 |
Introduction and Overview |
| 30 |
Syllabus |
| |
U.S. Constitution and Amendments (http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html) |
| |
|
| September |
| 1 |
APSA Annual Meeting – No Class |
| I. Striking a Balance? |
| 4 |
Rosati in Cohen and Wells, 9-28 |
| |
Banks in Cohen and Wells,. 29-70 |
| |
Happy Labor Day (yes, we do have class: but remember, you did have Friday off) |
| 6 |
Department of Justice White Paper on NSA surveillance |
| 8 |
ACLU v. NSA |
| II. Striking a Balance? “Separate Institutions Sharing Powers” |
| 11 |
Federalist 8, 23, 37 |
| 12 |
FOURTH HOUR: POLICY PROPOSALS – Discussion of Topics |
| 13 |
Federalist 48, 51, 63 |
| 15 |
Federalist 70, 78 |
| |
First Essay Assigned |
| III. Balancing Powers in Wartime |
| 18 |
Prize Cases (Moodle) |
| 19 |
FOURTH HOUR: POLICY PROPOSALS – Attention to Research |
| 20 |
Lincoln, July 4, 1861 |
| 22 |
ex parte Merryman |
| |
ex parte Milligan (Moodle) |
| |
First Essay Due |
| 25 |
Fisher, Military Tribunals and Presidential Power |
| 27 |
Fisher |
| 29 |
Fisher |
| |
|
| October |
| 2 |
Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (Moodle) |
| 3 |
FOURTH HOUR: POLICY PROPOSALS – Topic Selection |
| 4 |
Hamdi (Moodle) |
| 6 |
Rasul v. Bush (Moodle) |
| |
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (Moodle) |
| |
Topic Description due |
| 9 |
Hamdan (Moodle) |
| |
Eric Posner “A Threat That Belongs Behind Bars,” NYT, June 25, 2006 (Moodle) |
| 11 |
Review |
| 13 |
Midterm |
| 16-20 |
FALL BREAK |
| 23 |
U.S. v. Curtiss-Wright (Moodle) |
| |
Youngstown Sheet & Tube v. Sawyer (Moodle) |
| 24 |
FOURTH HOUR: POLICY PROPOSALS—Research Plan |
| 25 |
John Yoo, The Powers of War and Peace |
| 26 |
Davis Lecture: James Schroeder, attorney for the Hamdi case |
| 27 |
Yoo |
| 30 |
Yoo |
| 31 |
FOURTH HOUR: Fisher, Presidential War Power |
| |
|
| November |
| 1 |
Fisher |
| 3 |
Association for Political Theory Conference – NO CLASS |
| 6 |
Fisher |
| |
Second Essay Assigned |
| 7 |
FOURTH HOUR MEETING |
| |
ABA report on Presidential Signing Statements |
| |
Testimony of Michelle E. Boardman, U. S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Senate Judiciary Committee, June 27, 2006 |
| 8 |
International Symposium Day – NO CLASS |
| IV. Whose Rights When? |
| 10 |
Korematsu v. U.S. (Moodle) |
| 13 |
Persons of Interest (video) |
| |
Essay II due |
| 14 |
FOURTH HOUR: POLICY PROPOSALS – Project Overviews (Group work) |
| 15 |
U.S. v. Awadallah (Moodle) |
| |
In Re Grand Jury Material Witness Detention (Moodle) |
| V. First Amendment and National Security |
| 17 |
Collins and Skover, “What Is War?: Reflections On Free Speech In ‘Wartime’” |
| |
36 Rutgers L. J. 833 (2005) (Moodle) |
| 20 |
Stewart and Marlin in Cohen and Wells, 167-184 |
| |
Tabrizi in Cohen and Wells, 185-202 |
| 22 |
Tokaji in Cohen and Wells, 203-226 |
| 24 |
R & R |
| 27 |
New York Times v. U.S. (Moodle) |
| |
North Jersey Media Group, Inc. v. Ashcroft |
| 28 |
FOURTH HOUR: POLICY PROPOSAL—On Oral Presentation |
| VI. Balance – or not |
| 29 |
Wells in Cohen and Wells, 227-240 |
| |
Ackerman, Before the Next Attack |
| |
|
| December |
| 1 |
Ackerman |
| 4 |
Ackerman |
| 6 |
Policy Presentations |
| 8 |
Policy Presentations |
| 11 |
Policy Presentations |
| 13 |
Policy Presentations |
| 19 |
FINAL PROJECTS DUE, 12 p.m. |
