Congressional Power and National Security Policy

Catalog description

The purpose of this course is for students to identify, examine, analyze, and interpret the role of Congress in shaping national security policy with a particular emphasis on the institution’s role in the Global War on Terror. Particular attention is paid to the role of the US government being able to balance individual rights and liberties within the national security state. Last, the course also takes an in-depth analysis of the U.S. Congress, looking comparatively at how legislatures in other nations have dealt with crafting their own security policies. The course will address the following questions: First, what is the role of Congress in national security policy, what does it do, and why? Second, what are the various ways of studying the relationship between the legislative and executive branches of government in the US system as it relates to the Global War on Terror? Note: This course is cross-listed as POL 314 . Students may not get credit for both HLS 314 and POL 314 .