myStudy - Leuphana Universität Lüneburg

This course belongs to the Wintersemester 2026/2027!

Dates

weekly | Wednesday | 10:15 - 11:45 | 12.10.2026 - 29.01.2027 | C 16.203 Seminarraum

Curriculum context

Module

16604000 Engaging with Knowledge and Sciences

Assessment

[30165] Judicial Politics

Form of assessment

Combined academic performance

Examiner

Natascha Zaun

Elements of assessment:

Seminar Session Design and Facilitation (50%)
Discussant Role (15%)
Written Reflection (35%)

Dates

Date of assessment: Wednesday, 31.03.2027
Resit date: No resit date will be offered to this assessment, because it is didactically inseparably connected with one of the associated courses. A resit will only be possible, if the module is available again.

Notices

The course involves active participation in class and is graded on the basis of a Seminar Session Design and Facilitation (50%), the adoption of a Discussant Role (15%) in one session and a written reflection (35%) to be submitted in the ensuing semester break. The written assignment should comprise 2,500 words approx.| Anzeige von Anmeldebeginn und -ende systembedingt. Selbständige Anmeldung nur zum Prüfungstermin und nicht zum Wiederholungstermin möglich.

To the assessment in myCampus

Organizational information

Type of course

Seminar

planned way of execution

Full presence

Hours per week per semester

Registration process

central procedure for assignment of remaining places (with participant limit)

Maximum number of participants

Registration

Lottery procedure

central procedure for assignment of remaining places (with participant limit)

Time period

Registration ends on 12.10.2026 at 23:59.

Persons

Teaching staff

Natascha Zaun

Tutors

Luiza Celeste Schmuelgen

Content

Language of instruction

Englisch

Native Title

Judicial Politics

Tags

none

Content and concept

This course addresses the role of courts in politics, an often neglected topic in Political Science. We ask how law and rights matter, how they affect policy and what influences judicial decision-making. What is the role of public opinion in court decisions? How independent is the judiciary from politics? And how does ideology or gender influence the decision-making of judges. While most of the literature on this topic addresses these aspects in the US context, we try to also cover non-US cases where possible.

Objective

Students who have taken this course will have a thorough understanding of how courts interact with other political branches in a political system and how they influence politics or how they are influenced by politics. They will be able to apply different theories and concepts related to these questions. They will also be able to give specific empirical examples of the causal relations between politics and judicial decision-making.

Other

The course involves active participation in class and is graded on the basis of a Seminar Session Design and Facilitation (50%), the adoption of a Discussant Role (15%) in one session and a written reflection (35%) to be submitted in the ensuing semester break. The written assignment should comprise 2,500 words approx. Please note that this is the correct description of the assessment as per the rubric "Prüfungselemente". The Hinweise below that are false, but the instructor cannot change them, as this is done centrally by the university.

Evaluation

This course has not been registered for teaching evaluation yet.

Further information on teaching evaluation: https://www.leuphana.de/en/teaching/quality-management/evaluation/course-evaluation.html