Course description
1.The course teaching ideas and goals
The field of comparative constitutional law has grown immensely over the past couple of decades. Once a minor and obscure adjunct to the field of domestic constitutional law, comparative constitutional law has now moved front and centre. Can a parliamentary democracy be compared to a presidential one? A federal republic to a unitary one? Can constitutional rights deployed in a libertarian context be profitably compared to those at work in a social welfare context? Is it perilous to compare minority rights in a multi-ethnic state to those in its ethnically homogeneous counterparts? These controversies form the background to the field of comparative constitutional law, challenging not only legal scholars, but also those in other fields, such as philosophy and political theory. The course will discuss those issues and give the basic conclusions about those issues.
2.Teaching methods and means
The course includes a table giving an overview of the systems discussed, a glossary and an index, model exam questions, the relevant constitutional texts and a selection of important international treaty provisions.
3.The assessment method
The course will use the final exam and course assignments to assess the students.
4.The teaching material
Willem Heringa, Aalt, An introduction to comparative constitutional law, Kessinger publishing 2010.
This course provides briefly an introduction to comparative constitutional law. For each area of constitutional law, a general introduction and a comparative overview is provided, which is then followed by more detailed country chapters on that specific area. The subjects covered are the origins and main features of constitutions; federalism，unitarian and related concepts; legislature and law-making; governments, their legislature and their heads of state; and judicial review, including the role of human rights. The country chapters cover the constitutional systems of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and the South Africa. This course is a helpful guide for students who are for the first time exploring comparative constitutional law.
