Public Law and Policy

Treatymaking: International Agreement Negotiations

Discussion - 3 hours. This course will be a semester long negotiation simulation intended to produce a multinational convention on a topic that is timely and meaningfully contributes to real-world discourse on the subject matter.  We will begin by introducing the fundamentals of treaty and international agreement practice under U.S.

Election Law: Campaign Finance, Political Speech, and Rights of Political Association

Seminar - 2 hours. This course investigates the constitutional and statutory frameworks that channel and regulate the efforts of individuals, corporate and nonprofit entities, and political groups to convey their ideas to the electorate, to mobilize voter turnout, and to get their preferred candidates on the ballot and elected to office. We will examine the legal status of contributions and expenditures of money and other goods—whether directly to candidates, or through intermediary political groups—and the line between political influence and political corruption.

Election Law: Voting Rights

Seminar - 2 hours. This course investigates the right to vote as a matter of constitutional and statutory law. It covers the Warren Court cases that established the right to vote as a fundamental right under the Equal Protection clause; the emergence and transformation of the right of racial minorities to an “undiluted” vote under the Equal Protection clause and the federal Voting Rights Act; and the limits of the non-dilution principle, as reflected in partisan gerrymandering cases.

Race, Gender and Inequality

Seminar - 2 hours. Examines gender and race and how they are constructed, contested, and regulated within legal, legislative, and juridical frameworks. Includes interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives across legal, sociolegal, and feminist studies. Topics include education, criminal justice, political representation, health and reproductive rights, privacy, civil rights.

Legislative Drafting

Discussion - 2 hours. Legislative Drafting at UC Davis School of Law provides practical experience in researching, analyzing, and drafting legislative measures in the State of California, including bills, resolutions, and constitutional amendments. The course is one semester in length, offered during the fall semester, and worth 2 credits. The course is offered to both 2Ls and 3Ls, with priority going to 3Ls. This is a skills-based course for students to be trained in drafting and amending legislative measures. As such, we have a limit of 12 students.