Optimal Size and Scope of Government

While some political debates are simply efforts to craft a message that will enable the proponent to seize or maintain political power, others are rooted in different conceptions of what government can and should be doing. Opinions about issues ranging from antidiscrimination law, criminal justice, education, poverty, and inequality to gun policy, environmental law, the challenge of climate change, the provision of medical care, national defense, and the need to thwart or respond to pandemics, asteroids, or other rare but potentially catastrophic events are rooted in conceptions of the proper role of government and empirical assessments about its capacities and the benefits and costs from government action or inaction. Based on the course readings and our discussions, those supporting a more limited role of government will be pushed to defend this position and articulate its possible risks and benefits. Those supporting a more activist approach will be pushed to prioritize their programmatic preferences in light of our inherently limited capacity to advance every objective and address every possible problem or threat. Elements used in grading: Attendance, Class Participation, Written Assignments, Final Paper.