This is an opportunity to explore the broad conditions that shape legislation. We will examine models, evidence and debates about the sources, causal connections and impacts of evolving systems of law, regulation, governance and a broad array of community response. Each student will be learning through work as an intern with a legislator and her or his staff. This will involve intensive staff-apprenticeship activities, especially legislative research and draft development, bill-tracking and constituent correspondence.

Each student accepted as an intern will develop an internship learning contract, profiling legislative responsibilities and linkages to academic development.

In regular in-capitol seminars, each student intern will translate her or his activities in the Legislature into analytic and reflective writing about the challenges, learning and implications of the work; students will make presentations about their learning and participate in various workshops. Each intern will keep a journal, submitted to the faculty sponsor on a regular basis, and a portfolio of all materials related to legislative work. Drawing broadly from the social sciences, we will explore relationships between elected officials, legislative staff, registered lobbyists, non-governmental organizations, citizen activists and district constituents. Students will learn through a range of approaches: responsibilities in an 8:00-5:00 workweek, guest presentations, seminars, workshops on budget, media panels and job-shadowing regional officials and activists of choice. Interns will participate in a final mock hearing floor debate on current legislative issues.

The 2015 session will involve student interns for both winter and spring quarters. Each quarter will comprise a different 16-credit contract. In spring quarter, students can develop an 8-credit Legislative Internship Contract, augmented by another 8-credit project or program involving specific post-session research and writing. Student performance for the two-quarter internship is evaluated by the faculty sponsor, field supervisors and legislative office staff.