Th is book is intended to help you learn to identify and analyze issues in constitutional law. In terms of application to coursework and law school exams, it should be useful for the usual introductory Constitutional Law course focusing on the structure of the federal government and the distribution of powers between the federal government and the states. It should also be useful in a course on individual constitutional rights, as well as a course specifi cally devoted to the First Amendment. Constitutional law often proves diffi cult for law students, because the content and analytical approach diff er signifi cantly from those in fi rst-year courses. In many courses, because there are often many issues to identify, simply being able to identify issues may lead to a reasonably good grade. On the other hand, in a constitutional law essay question, there are likely to be fewer issues, sometimes perhaps even only one main issue. Th us, there is a greater premium on being able to provide more depth in your analysis. Th is greater expected depth of analysis may make what is known as the IRAC (Issue, Relevant law, Application to facts, and Conclusion) approach to writing exam answers, repeatedly applied in an individual essay, less appropriate for Constitutional Law. For example, in an individual rights question the major issue will often simply be to identify the proper test to apply to the given facts. Th e “rule” to apply in a Constitutional Law essay may not be easily stated. Rather, there may be a method followed to determine the test, and there may be precedent from which guidance may be drawn. It may well be unclear, even after applying what you know, what the test should be. You may well have two, or more, tests to apply. Th e most sophisticated analysis will go into determining the test or tests, whereas application may be more straightforward.