The Constitutional Imagination

Catalog Title: GOVT 4240-03: Hopper UG Seminar in Govt

Course Title: The Constitutional Imagination: Between Power and Restraint

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What are constitutions? What problems did they emerge to solve, and why have they become such a permanent feature of our political world? The prevalence of written constitutions is a uniquely modern phenomenon, born alongside new ways of imagining popular sovereignty and democratic forms of government. Yet modern constitutions have often held a conflicted relationship with the democratic values they mean to express. Do they primarily serve to empower citizens or to constrain effective action? Do they provide forums for democratic deliberation and government, or enshrine counter-majoritarian rule? Do they protect human rights or serve as useful tools for autocrats? Are they bulwarks against tyranny or ineffective paper restraints? Are our current constitutional orders well-equipped to help us navigate the crises and upheavals of contemporary political life, or must they adapt to confront the unique challenges that face us today?

 

This course will engage with these questions by returning to a set of foundational concepts and problems that have informed constitutional theorists throughout the modern period (c. 1500 to the present). As our contemporary institutions face sustained attacks on democratic governance and the rule of law, re-engaging with the fundamental purposes of constitutional order is vital for navigating an increasingly fractious and crisis-laden political climate. During the semester, students will have the opportunity to grapple with both classic and contemporary texts concerning constituent power, popular sovereignty, the separation of powers, rights frameworks, the “tyranny of the majority,” the “counter-majoritarian difficulty,” crisis and emergency, and the politics of countervailing interests.

 

Our first unit will provide a historical exploration of the constitutional tradition from the Protestant Reformation to the French Revolution. Our second unit will provide a sustained engagement with the American constitutional tradition in a comparative perspective, aimed at interrogating self-interest and rights-based frameworks for constitutional design. Our final unit will examine a series of contemporary controversies facing modern constitutional thought, especially concerning judicial review, constitutional fidelity, and climate crisis.

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Course Syllabus

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Fall 2024 | Weds, 2–4:30 p.m. | GOVT: Dept Seminar