About
Sound government structures serve to promote individual well-being and the common good. The Founders of the United States Constitution sought to implement this truth, and all nations must grapple with it, individually and collectively.
The Notre Dame Law School has a rich tradition of promoting the study of constitutional structures of government. Sound government structures serve to promote individual well-being and the common good. The Founders of the United States Constitution sought to implement this truth, and all nations must grapple with it, individually and collectively. The Notre Dame Program on Constitutional Structure promotes interdisciplinary learning of how constitutional structures operate—in the United States and abroad—and what promise they hold for the good of human persons.
Student Learning
Student learning is central to our mission. The Notre Dame Law School has a large, world-class faculty in the field of Constitutional Law. Our Program of Study in Public Law includes extensive curricular offerings for students interested in government lawyering, judicial clerkships, criminal justice, constitutional litigation, administrative regulation and adjudication, public policy, and many other public law fields. In partnership with the Department of Political Science, we offer students the opportunity to study constitutional law, history, and theory from various interdisciplinary perspectives.
Research
The Program on Constitutional Structure also promotes research in the field of constitutional structure. It sponsors a rich array of lectures, conferences, and other events—domestically and internationally—to advance understandings of constitutional structures and their relationship to human well-being. We encourage students to participate in faculty research and to develop their own research projects at Notre Dame, either by working as a faculty research assistant or by enrolling in a “directed reading” (independent research project) with a faculty member.
Public Service
Notre Dame graduates have served at the highest levels of federal and state governments. Each year, many Notre Dame graduates earn prestigious clerkships in various levels of the United States and state judiciaries. The Notre Dame Program on Constitutional Structure is pleased to help our students prepare for careers across a range of fields in public law.
