"The People and the Judges: Constitutional Politics and Judicial Review in American History," which will be taught by Professor Michael Les Benedict of the Ohio State University.

Description: Most Americans think of the Supreme Court as the final interpreter of the U.S. Constitution, and for the past fifty years the Court has certainly claimed that role. But historians and political scientists have always argued that Court decisions reflect the surrounding historical and political context. Now many legal analysts are exploring how to incorporate this historical reality into jurisprudence. What has been the role of the people themselves in developing constitutional rules? To what degree are constitutional issues legal and to what degree political? What is the relationship between constitutional politics and constitutional law? We will read and critique works that draw conclusions about these questions based on American constitutional history.

Space is limited for this seminar, which will meet for six consecutive Mondays beginning March 3, 2008. For further information on this and other ICS events, please call Maeve Devoy at (202)994-2448, email us at icsgw@law.gwu.edu, or visit our website at http://docs.law.gwu.edu/ics/