Foundations in Public Law

Catalog description

Students with non-legal backgrounds will develop a fundamental understanding of public law, meaning legislation and regulation, and the mechanisms by which public law regulates engineering, science and technology: how the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government interact to form science and technology policy, how administrative agencies and regulations implement that policy, and how judicial review of legislation and regulation affects policies, regulations, and systems. Students will be exposed to the following legal topics: constitutional law, statutory passage and interpretation, administrative regulations, how administrative regulations are analyzed by the judicial branch, and the role of the Supreme Court of the United States. Case studies will be used to show examples of how legislation and regulation affect engineering and other non-law fields, including how agency regulations impact engineering work, business, and culture; the role of technical experts in agency activities, and how notice-and-comment allows for public feedback on proposed regulations. After successfully completing this course, students will have an in-depth understanding of how technical and scientific experts within the government can impact policy and how experts outside of the government are regulated by that policy.