Oversight & Accountability (LAW-795OA-001)
Jeff Elkin
Meets: 08:00 PM - 08:50 PM (TuTh) - Yuma - Room Y404
Enrolled: 14 / Limit: 25
Notices
There are no notices at this time.
Description
This graded, two-credit seminar will explore and analyze the Executive, Legislative, and nongovernmental entities that oversee the operations of the United States federal government and hold its personnel accountable for waste, fraud, abuse of authority, and other misconduct. Specifically, the course covers the law, policy, and activities of the Offices of Inspector General, Office of Government Ethics, Office of Special Counsel, Government Accountability Office, and Office of Management and Budget, as well as congressional oversight committees, nongovernmental watchdog organizations, whistleblowers, and other elements of the federal "oversight and accountability community."
In conjunction with this course, students will also have the opportunity to submit content for The Oversight Project, AUWCL’s widely acclaimed online publication on the oversight and accountability community. The Oversight Project publishes updates on newsworthy developments, scholarly analyses, and other writing on the oversight and accountability community from students and practitioners working in and studying that field.
Class sessions will generally consist of lecture, discussion of students' writing (ideas, drafts, and work product), and speeches by or discussions with guest speakers who practice in this area of law and policy.
Readings and key resources are linked herein and will be posted on myWCL. There is no textbook.
Students may elect to satisfy the AUWCL Upper Level Writing Requirement (“ULWR”) through this course. Please see infra, Optional ULWR, for more information.
Textbooks and Other Materials
The textbook information on this page was provided by the instructor. Students should use this information when considering purchases from the AU Campus Store or other vendors. Students may check to determine if books are currently available for purchase online.
There is no textbook for this course. Course readings will consist of primary sources such as work product from oversight and accountability entities, judicial opinions, and congressional statutes; as well as secondary sources such as Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports and law review articles.
First Class Readings
The Oversight Project, www.oversightproject.gov (skim some interesting posts).
Congressional Oversight Manual, Congressional Research Service (“CRS”), RL30240, pp. 1 – 22, 36 – 54, 70, 71 – 93 (Mar. 31, 2021), https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL30240/37.
Mort Rosenberg, When Congress Comes Calling: A Primer (2017), skim “Table of Contents” and read pp. 1 – 11, 39 – 47, 313 - 317, https://docs.pogo.org/report/2017/POGO_TCP_When_Congress_Comes_Calling.pdf.
Syllabus
Use your MyAU username and password to access the syllabus in the following format(s):
Adobe Acrobat (PDF)