Creating, Amending, and Replacing Constitutions: The Problem of Constituent Power

Catalog description

Constitutions claim to be stable, yet they usually include a framework for their own revision. This class will explore different explanations of constitution-making found in constitutional theory and political philosophy. Besides this ?constituent power,? we will also look into what factors facilitate and impede the amendment and replacement of constitutions. We will start by analyzing the standard theories of constituent power. Then, we will cover more recent characterizations of this normative concept, especially that of Philip Pettit, for whom the possibility of constituent power hinges on particular cognitive attitudes. In the second half of the course, we will look into the justifications for and against amending constitutions, or even replacing them outright. We will focus on the theories of explicit and implicit constitutional unamendability, as well as study the arguments used against them.