ADRO 12A00 - Introduction to Comparative Political Institutions and Constitutional Law

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 (2015-2026), although greatly varied in content, did not modify the “constitutionalist” conception of the regulation of political institutions. However, in 2026, 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 discusses 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 focuses on the implementation process of these principles with the example of French constitutionalism (Lectures and Seminars 5-8), before comparing the particularities of contemporary constitutional regimes (Lectures and Seminars 9-12).

Principles of constitutional structure include the analysis of the historical roots of political institutions and constitutions, their underlying goals, and their provisions and formal characteristics. In particular, this first part of the course addresses the following questions: Why and how did modern States emerge? Are institutions endogenous to the State? What are the effects of decentralization of power in unitary or federal States? Can a State exist without a constitution, a constitution without a State? What is constitutionalism? What is regional or global constitutionalism? What are the basic elements of constitutions? What are constitutions intended to protect or make possible? What theories have influenced the framers of constitutions? What is the process by which States draft and amend constitutions? What are the different types of government? How can one define majoritarian or self-governing democracy, representative or direct democracy? How does the separation of powers influence institutional design? What is the actual debate confronting “presidentialism” versus “parliamentarism”? How is contemporary institutional design affected by innovative mechanisms tending to strengthen transparency, accountability, direct participation, and deliberation, as well as the regulation of fourth branches? Four student-organized reading groups will then allow students to collectively question what makes a government legitimate, to address the modern problems affecting Asian constitutionalism, to analyze the classically conceptualized link between electoral systems and the reality of self-governed democracy, and then to challenge whether deliberative democracy could be a solution to representative insufficiencies.

Process of constitutional implementation: Building on the principles discovered in the first part of the class, this second part focuses on the difficulties of implementation of constitutionalism by focusing on the long constitutional evolution in France. We will use the tools obtained in the first part of the course to examine French constitutional history in detail as it represents substantially all the species of constitutional regimes that have yet been developed (constitutional monarchy, assembly regime, directorate, consulate, empire, parliamentary regime, presidential regime, “semi-presidential” regime). After this historical and political analysis, we will examine the ongoing challenges to the aspired consolidation within the actual « semi-presidential » regime in the Vth Republic, its role in Europe and its possible reforms in a globalized world. The reasons for the success or failure of each attempted regime in France will serve as guidelines to the analysis of contemporary political institutions discussed in part 3 of the course.

Particularities of evolving institutional design: This section of the course examines the design and evolution of parliamentary regimes (Great Britain, India, Germany, Spain, Italy) and presidential regimes (United States and Brazil), as well as specific power sharing or consociational mechanisms in « divided » societies (Switzerland, Belgium, Israel, European Union) and the future of Asian constitutionalism (Japan, China, South-East Asia). During this part of the course, two student-organized reading groups will debate collectively on the nature and future of Asian constitutionalism, the transplantation of institutions, authoritarian constitutionalism, constitutional Confucianism, and the contested theory of global constitutionalism.

The course will be divided into 12 required three-hour lectures, 12 required two-hour seminars, and 6 open format optional reading groups. Power points, required readings, and course outline are available on the CLASS GOOGLE DRIVE prior to each lecture. The power points and required reading should be studied before each lecture, with the aim of enabling students to raise questions and debate key issues when called upon during the lecture. Weekly seminars will take place during the week following the lectures and include both practical (case studies and commentaries) and theoretical (essays and debates) exercises. At the end of the course, the student is expected to:

• master the language and metalanguage of political institutions and comparative constitutional law (“key words” indicated on each of the 12 seminar outlines).
• be able to argue the pros and cons of implementing particular institutional and constitutional choices (“key questions” indicated on each of the 12 seminar outlines)
• be able to develop a personal critical issue and thesis concerning each of the principles, processes, and particularities covered in the class (as illustrated in the outlines of each of the 12 lectures, and with the format that students will present weekly in seminars).

TO VALIDATE THE COURSE, THE STUDENT IS EXPECTED TO PASS THE FOLLOWING ASSIGNMENTS:

1/ 50% of the final grade is comprised of three equal marks obtained in seminars (see details on pgs.6-7 hereafter)

• the mean grade of three oral quiz grades on key terms and questions (1/3 of the seminar grade, aimed at preparing precise content for the final exam, see method p. 7 hereafter).
• the mean grade of two team paper presentations (1/3 of the seminar grade, aimed at strengthening argumentation skills in essays and text commentaries, see method p. 7 hereafter)
• one midterm written exam (1/3 of the seminar grade, 3 hours closed book exam, choice between essay or commentary; method p. 6 hereafter),

2/ 50% of the final grade: final examination

• 3 hour written exam covering all 12 lectures and seminars on a common topic for all SciencesPo campuses

The student will have a CHOICE between an essay question or a text commentary

The exam is closed book (no documents allowed)

Examples of exam topics are on the class Google Drive

The methodology for the final exam is identical to that learned in weekly seminars