Separation of Powers

3 Credit Hours

This seminar will examine the separation of powers. We will ask why the Founders included separation of powers as a cornerstone of our constitutional design, and we will evaluate whether and how the Supreme Court's jurisprudence furthers the values that the separation of powers is meant to protect. Among other topics, we will consider congressional power to control spending and to compel executive testimony before Congress, the unitary executive theory and executive privilege, the non-delegation doctrine and the modern administrative state, and the modern war on terror. We will pay particular attention to the Obama presidency and ask what role the separation of powers plays (or should play) in issues like the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath, the use of drones to target and kill American citizens, and immigration reform.