Master’s Degrees and Diplomas

LAWS6303 - Constitutionalism and Democracy

Objectives

Provide a theoretical analysis of constitutionalism and with it the relation of law and democracy.

Content

At the intersection of law and politics, the ambiguities with which the concept of constitutionalism is fraught attest to the tensions it contains: of law's imperative to order and to stabilise expectations in social life on the one hand, and the inherent dynamism and 'restlessness' of the political on the other. Is the idea of a constitutional dialogue, or the idea of the 'co-originality of law and democracy' ways to make sense of the tensions? What happens when constitutionalism is 'uploaded' to the transnational level, where increasingly the language of 'constitutional pluralism' is called on to accommodate it? And if the notion of 'constituent power' has always been a key part of our understanding of the meaning of the 'constitutional' and the stakes associated with it, what has that concept meant for the radical tradition of constitutional thinking, and what does it mean to invoke that concept today?

Assessment

Class Participation (20%)
8,000 Word Essay (80%)

Session

Semester 2 Intensive
22, 23 & 29, 30 August 2013 (9:00AM-5:00PM)

The timetable is subject to frequent changes. Please refer to the latest version of the Postgraduate Timetable.

Legal Professional Development (LPD)

You can credit this unit towards Legal Professional Development (LPD). Units of study that are part of Sydney Law School’s Postgraduate Program meet the necessary Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) of the Law Society of New South Wales and the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements of the New South Wales Bar Association. You may complete this unit of study by enrolling on a non-degree basis or on an audit basis only with no assessment via Single Unit Enrolment.

Courses this unit is available in

The University of Sydney - Sydney Law School