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Обычная версия сайта
21
Апрель

Constitutional Balances for Sustainable Society

2019/2020
Учебный год
ENG
Обучение ведется на английском языке
4
Кредиты
Статус:
Курс по выбору
Когда читается:
1-й курс, 3, 4 модуль

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The course “Constitutional Balances for Sustainable Society” covers series of topics within comparative study of constitutional as well as quasi-constitutional systems. It is aimed to investigate the concepts and structures of the constitutions and the constitutional law institutions in Russia and foreign countries through all over the world from a comparative perspective. The main idea of the course is to prove that the constitutionalism is the balanced system of a society organization. There are a lot of constitutional balances. The main of them is the balance between human liberty and the state power. The most significant institutions of the constitution law such as human rights, systems of government, judicial review, and the territory organization of modern states are analyzed from the perspective of the system of the constitutional balances. The course introduces students to the different models of the constitutionalism (inclined to presidential or parliament ones) and quasi-constitutionalism (including religious (Islamic), party (socialist), inertial (bureaucratic, post-socialist), military (Latin American), tribal (African), superficial (elite) and unstable (revolutionary) models) in history and the modern world.
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

  • Transformation of students understanding of the constitutional law role in establishing effective government system;
  • Investigating actual constitutional law problems and analysis of different approaches to these problems solutions in Russia and foreign countries.
Expected Learning Outcomes

Expected Learning Outcomes

  • Students should gain Knowledge of: ─ The concepts of constitutionalism, constitution and constitutional law; - The most important institutions of the constitutional law such as human rights, systems of government, judicial review, and the territory organization of modern states.
  • Students should gain Skills and abilities to: ─ Deal with the notes and sources of the constitutional law; ─ Research and analyze the texts of the constitutions, judicial decisions and scientific works; ─ Recognize and analyze the essence and importance of the distinctions between the ideas and instruments, using by the constitutions and constitutional legislation in different countries;
  • Students should gain the following competences:  To deal with judicial information (to search, evaluate, range and use the information, necessary for accomplishment of scientific and professional tasks);  To carry out the academic, educational and practical professional activities in the constitutional environment;  To use the technical, comparative and other specific methods;  To understand and analyse constitutional law issues and search for their solutions.
Course Contents

Course Contents

  • Constitutionalism as a Balanced Model of the Society Organization. Fundamental Constitutional Concepts.
     Constitution, Constitutional Law and Constitutionalism – what are they?  What are trends and paradoxes of the world constitutional process ?  Constitutionalism as a balanced model of social organization. The system of the main constitutional balances:  State power (rather political elite and public bureaucracy) – human rights and the sovereignty of the people  Individual liberty – legal equality  The sovereignty of the people - human rights  Public bureaucracy – elected political elite  Political elite – political parties  Political parties - people sovereignty (elections)  Ruling political party - political opposition  Separation of powers (horizontal and vertical)  Constitutionalism @ quasi-constitutionalism
  • State Power and Human Liberty Balance as the Philosophical Bases of the Constitutionalism.
     Why is this balance so necessary?  What are the peculiarities of State power – human rights balance ?  What are the constitutional restrictions of State power?  How do constitution rules on human rights restrict the State power?
  • Legal Equality as the Mean of Balance of Different Individual Interests and Rights.
     What is the main idea of legal equality?  Can it be always achieved?  Is total legal equality possible and even necessary ?  What are desirable and forbidden limitations for legal equality principle?  What are the ways of equality declaring by different constitutions?  What are vulnerable points of legal equality strategy?
  • Modern Concepts of Sovereignty as a Balance for Human Liberty as well as Political Elite and Bureaucracy Power.
     What is sovereignty?  People and State sovereignty.  What is the correlation between the literal understanding “the sovereignty of the people” and its real idea ?  Does the sovereignty of people really exist ?  How is the idea of popular sovereignty covered by social doctrine, constitutions and realized in practice?  Why is the sovereignty of people considered to be a kind of constitutional balance?  What is the sovereignty of State?  Does the sovereignty of State really exist?  What are definitions of the state sovereignty principle by constitutions of different countries?  What is the constitutional significance of the state sovereignty principle?  Does the principle of state sovereignty go together with the constitutionalism as a balanced model of social organization?  What is “the sovereignty as a responsibility” concept?
  • Government and Opposition Balance as the Political Backbone of the Real Constitutionalism.
     What is the role of political parties within the democratic society organization? Party criticism.  What is the role of the ruling party and opposition as a political backbone of the real constitutionalism as a balanced system of the society organization.  Role of political parties during elections and in the State bodies (Parliament and Government) activities.  Types of the political parties’ systems and their role in creating and maintaining balances within the political space.
  • Separation of Powers as the Institutional Basis.
     What is the idea of separation of powers principle?  What are the ways of guaranteeing separation of powers principle by constitutions of different countries?  What are the literal interpretation of separation of powers principle and its spirit?  What are the factors modifying the literal interpretation of separation of powers principle?  How do they impact on the spirit of separation of powers principle?
  • Territorial Organisation of the State as the System of Balances.
     What is territorial organization of the State?  When and why did territorial organization of the State occur?  What are the types of territorial organization of the State?  What is their constitutional significance ?
  • Quasi – Constitutionalism (Nonequilibrium) Models and their Characteristics.
     Religious (Islamic) Model  Party (Socialist) Model  Inertial or bureaucratic (Post-socialist) Model  Military (Latin American) Model  Tribal (African) Model  Superficial (Elite) Model  Unstable (Revolutionary) Model.
Assessment Elements

Assessment Elements

  • non-blocking a home assignment in the form of a case note
  • non-blocking test
  • non-blocking participation in class discussions
  • non-blocking exam
Interim Assessment

Interim Assessment

  • Interim assessment (4 module)
    0.4 * a home assignment in the form of a case note + 0.4 * exam + 0.1 * participation in class discussions + 0.1 * test
Bibliography

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

  • Haggerty, J. (2018). Constitution: Overview, Issues and Interpretations. New York: SNOVA. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1879426

Recommended Additional Bibliography

  • Carugati, F. (2019). Creating a Constitution : Law, Democracy, and Growth in Ancient Athens. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=2045561