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Course Details

Administrative law covers two main areas. First, it considers what federal agencies do—how they turn national policies into action mostly through hearings or making rules.  Our focus will be on a second area: how federal agencies interact with Congress, the President, and the federal courts and the boundaries or balance of power between agencies and the branches of government.  For more, you should check out the current syllabus here:​

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FALL 2026 SYLLABUS

Course Materials

Readings

Required Reading

The required readings will be organized by chapter, and students will receive a physical copy on the first day of class. Both the physical and electronic versions of the readings are provided at no cost.

Slides

Class Slides

Class slides will be made available before each session and may be updated afterward throughout the course. The password for access will be provided in person during class.

Recordings

Class Recordings

Class recordings will be made available shortly after each class session.  The password to access these recording will be shared in person during class.

Class Participation

I plan on cold calling in class, but cold calling is not meant to trap or trick you. I hope by now you find the law fun (or at least that the law is worthy of an engaging conversation). Thus, I hope that you voluntarily participate in class as well. With that said, I understand that we all have busy lives and there may be times that for whatever reason you may not wish to be cold called on any particular day. If that is the case, please send me an email or text by 12:00 PM the day of class to let me know. I reserve the right to cap the number of times someone may rely on this opt-out procedure.

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Additional information about the course can be found in the syllabus.

Final Exam

The final exam will likely be a combination of multiple-choice questions (~30%), issue-spotting essays (~50%), and short answer questions (~20%). The exam will be open book and notes, but it is possible that you may have difficulty accessing your computer during the exam except for the exam software. Please note that this means that if you would like your course materials with you at the exam, I would recommend that you have a hardcopy.

I reserve the right to change the exam format but will notify you in advance if I do so.

Office Hours

Tuesdays 3–5 pm

(or by appointment)

Phone

(832) 254-1518

Email

bwduke at uh.edu

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Updated: August 17, 2025 
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