S. Lawyering in an Age of Political Polarization

Political polarization is a familiar feature of the American landscape. Voters strongly disagree about whether and how the government should address numerous issues, including racial inequities, climate change, immigration, gun safety, and gender and sexuality. In this seminar, we will work together to understand the forces driving political polarization and learn about successful law reform efforts notwithstanding polarization. We will study reforms that have garnered broad, bipartisan support, reforms that reflect the preferences of only one end of the political spectrum, and reforms that began by reflecting the views of only a small portion of the electorate but gained broader support over time. Our goal is to learn about the advocacy efforts underlying the reforms and develop larger lessons about lawyering in the current political climate.

Throughout the semester, we will seek to cultivate greater epistemic humility in ourselves, as we approach the problem of law reform and polarization with openness and intellectual curiosity. In the same spirit of fallibility, this seminar is a first draft, and I will seek your feedback throughout the semester.

Please note that this course assumes no political point of view. My hope is that there will be heterogeneous views in the classroom.

This seminar requires the following work: Two 2,000-word reflection papers; group work to prepare and present a case study of a successful law reform effort on a politically polarized subject; and active and sustained class participation.