In the United States, the rule of law refers to more than a set of substantive norms and political procedures. Law speaks more broadly to the identity of the citizen and his or her understanding of the polity-its history and its future. At stakes is an entire world view, at the core of which is the belief that the rule of law is rule by the popular sovereign. This seminar explores the unique nature of this world created and maintained by the American legal imagination. Topics include law's time and space, the nature of legal authority, law's relationship to justice, the judicial role, violence and the limits of law, and legal hermeneutics. Readings are interdisciplinary, including specifically legal texts as well as works in legal and political theory. Format: seminar. Requirements: active class participation, regular preparation of short discussion points for class, and a final paper. Prerequisite: Legal Studies 101 and at least two Legal Studies electives. Enrollment limit: 25 (expected: 20-25). Preference will be given, in order of seniority, to students for whom this course completes the Legal Studies concentration.

Hour: P. KHAN