This course examines a key example of struggle over government policy after it becomes law. We investigate efforts to implement policy and the counter-offensive to subvert the same, often while retaining the letter of the law. The major focus of the course is the U.S. Voting Rights Movement, a product of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and one prime illustration of the debate over a policy consensus in the context of fragmentation represented by federalism, separation of powers, and racial and ethnic diversity in the polity. The course selects from a range of contemporary policy areas for comparison including abortion rights, environmental protection, educational equity, immigration, regulation of business, and public support for the arts. Discussion format. The course will require five short papers. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor. American Politics Subfield