Constitution Compared (6 ECTS)

Lecturer(s): Prof. mr. dr. S.A.J. Munneke, mr. M. Nap
Coordinator: Dr. M. Duchateau

When: Block 3+4

Brief course description:
Constitutional Law deals with the bare essentials of what makes a State. If focusses on questions regarding the formal and informal structures in a polity, the source of powers exercised therein, the relationship between government bodies, between the state and individuals and between states and questions alike. It can be argued that over time, we have seen that these questions remain somewhat similar, however the answers thereto differ. Explanations for these differences are quite often easily understood (globalization, modernization, differences in public opinion, religion, economical and sociological typology et cetera), but sometimes rather difficult to comprehend.
In this seminar we would like to focus on both the similarities and the differences. We will do that, however, not as a goal but as a means to deepen the understanding of these arrangements and the way they are interrelated. The aim of this seminar is to better understand the fundamental principles and structural choices in constitutional design: in order to understand what makes the system work, we’ll first have to find out what the system is and what we might expect from it.
For this end, the method of comparative constitutional law is useful. The comparison can deal with either several states or international organizations, but also with the way a constitutional Grand Design was applied in one specific state or organization.
By means of discussing the writing process/progress, draft outlines, draft essays and final essays this seminar will, from a comparative point of view, lead students through the process of writing an article that could be published in a legal journal. The seminar is pre-eminently suitable for students who want to train their writing skills and have an interest in comparative constitutional law and/or constitutional theory and/or the frontiers of traditional constitutional law.
Note: Presence at the meetings is compulsory.

Teaching method: Seminar

Assessment: Assignment(s), papers

*Official course information and schedules during the academic year can be found in Ocasys.