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. Format: discussion. Requirements: five short papers. Prerequisites: permission of the instructor. Enrollment limit: 24. American Politics Subfield