ADRO 11A00 - Constitutional Law and Political Institutions

The 18th century movement of constitutionalism posited a link between written constitutions and conceptions of Statehood, Nations, Peoples, and the

collective regulation of fundamental values through political institutions. Four major waves of democratization (1820-1926; 1945-1960; 1974-1990;

2011-2014), as well as the growing use of constitutionalized political institutions by dictators (2015-2021), although greatly varied in content, did not

modify the “constitutionalist” conception of the regulation of political institutions. However, in 2022, underlying calls for enhanced popular participation

and deliberative democracy challenge the pertinence of actual inter-institutional mechanisms and constitutional supremacy. Understanding the

framework in which political institutions are born, are organized , and evolve by and for the State is therefore essential to the comprehension of

modern political regimes.

This course compares issues of constitutional and institutional structure by addressing the general principles underlying State constitutions and the

choice and legitimacy of political regimes (Lectures and Seminars 1- 4), and then analyzing the implementation process of these principles (Lectures

and Seminars 5-8), and the particularities of contemporary constitutions (Lectures and Seminars 9-12).