COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGN (INTL9616) 
2 or 3 credits. Seminar.

Since the 1980s, a wave of democratization has swept Eastern Europe, Latin America and the former Soviet Union, as well as parts of Africa and Asia, making democracy the dominant form of government in the world today. A necessary feature of the process of transition to democracy in a given country is the design and adoption of a new constitution.

Using the framing of the U.S. Constitution and the essential elements of U.S. constitutionalism as points of departure, this seminar will examine some of the principal options and trade-offs that new democracies might consider as they design and write their constitutions, and, in particular, how drafters of the world's newest constitutions have dealt with such issues as separation of powers, enforcement of the constitution, religious and cultural pluralism, free speech, federalism, social and economic rights, equality and antidiscrimination, political representation, and constitutional amendment. The seminar aims to deepen the student's appreciation and understanding of the policies and contingencies that drive particular constitutional choices and the importance of context in constitutional design.