Prerequisite: None

Exam Type: No Exam

This seminar will explore how independent oversight mechanisms in the federal government seek to promote accountability, transparency, and efficiency in Executive Branch programs and operations, with a particular focus on inspectors general. We will examine the history and current operation of federal inspectors general and other independent federal oversight entities, their statutory authorities, and the legal and constitutional issues they raise.  The class will consider the relationship between inspectors general and the agencies they oversee, how inspectors general engage with the Congress, the role of whistleblowers, and the tension between political accountability and independent oversight accountability.  Class readings will include statutory provisions, court decisions, legal writings, and Justice Department opinions.  Through consideration of case studies, the class will assess the role independent oversight has played in areas ranging from national security to law enforcement to economic policy.    The course also will consider how the breakdown in post-Watergate norms and legal challenges to oversight may impact the future of independent oversight of the Executive Branch, and whether reforms are needed to the current federal oversight regime.

Grades will be based on class participation and eight short (600 word) thought papers in reaction to the readings.