Spring 2026

7397 WRS Democracy - FROOMKIN- 26338

Professor(s): David Froomkin (FACULTY)

Credits: 3

Course Areas: Constitutional and Criminal Law
Practice Skills - (Research and Writing)

Time: 1:00p-2:30p MW Location:

Course Outline: How does law contribute to or undermine democratic government? This seminar will consider the import of various legal rules—some constitutional but mostly sub-constitutional—for the health of democracy in the United States. We will focus primarily on election law, which is often referred to as “the law of democracy,” but we will also consider whether there is equally important law of democracy beyond the scope of election law as traditionally conceived. We will read mostly legal scholarship, along with some political science. Topics will include voting rights, election subversion, malapportionment, redistricting and gerrymandering, electoral systems, executive aggrandizement, congressional quiescence, money in politics, and criminal penalties. In addition to participation, the course will require a final paper of at least 10,000 words that satisfies the UHLC writing requirement.

Course Syllabus:

Course Notes: (Face-to-Face) The UH registration system instruction mode for this course is listed in parenthesis. For this instruction mode, instructors and students are expected to normally be physically present in the classroom. If the course has a final examination, it will be in a classroom requiring your physical presence. Other assessment, such as a mid term exam, may also be in a classroom. Whether this instructor will offer “remote presence” (starting a zoom meeting from the podium computer to enable student remote access on an occasional basis) for part or all of the semester is not known, but students should not rely on an expectation that remote presence will be available.

Prerequisites:

First Day Assignments:

Final Exam Schedule:

This course will have:
Exam:
Paper:

Satisfies Senior Upper Level Writing Requirement: Yes

Experiential Course Type: No

Bar Course: No

DistanceEd ABA: No

Pass-Fail Student Election: Unavailable (Instructor Preference)