Lectures on Comparative Constitutionalism -- 比较立宪主义

Will post the lecture notes and PowerPoints in later posts. The descriptions of the lectures follows below. My great thanks to Tong Zhiwei (童之伟) and Sun Ping for the invitation to deliver these thoughts.

Lectures on Comparative Constitutionalism -- 比较立宪主义

Larry Catá Backer

Delivered at East China University of Politics and Law; November-December 2019

The focus of this series of lectures will be on constitutions.  That is itself a term that is not free from controversy.  We start with the difficulties of defining a constitution, and more broadly of developing a framework within which these instruments might be considered constitutionalism. That controversy reminds us that the process of creating a higher law of the constitution is inherently a political act but one that is meant to give effect to the core principles and ideals that form the core of the belief systems (ideology) of the community intent on constitution making. The lectures will examine the foundations of constitutionalism with national characteristics in the 21^st Century, and then assesses various important constitutional frameworks as they have been developed since the 18^th century.  We start with a general consideration of the nature and character of constitutions – what are they, how do they differ from statutes or other laws.  We then add the issue of interpretation – who ought to enforce and interpret constitutions, should it be a judicial function, a political function, or a political function of a judiciary.  We then turn to a consideration of constitutions in action, looking first at the way constitutions resolve the issue of allocations of powers between different levels of government (federalism) and within the state apparatus.

We will pay special attention to the evolution of constitutional form and function: (1) first generation constitutions – principally the United States the United Kingdom and France; (2) second generation constitutions created in the aftermath of the Second World War  – principally those of Germany and Japan; (3) third generation constitutions adopted after the fall of the Soviet Union– from those adopted in Eastern Europe, Latin America and South Africa; (4) fourth generation constitutions proposed and enacted for theocratic states and proposed for the emerging political orders in Afghanistan and Iraq; and then explore (5) a possible stage of fifth generation constitutions in the new era.

本课程共32课时，分八次课讲授。该课程将考察21世纪具有民族特色的立宪主义的基础，然后考察了自18世纪以来发展起来的各种重要的立宪主义框架。我们首先从总体上考虑宪法的性质和特点——宪法是什么？它们与普通立法或其他法律有何不同。然后，我们再着手解决——应该由谁来执行和解释宪法？执行和解释宪法是司法职能、政治职能还是司法机构的政治职能？接着，我们转向现行宪法，着眼于宪法如何解决各级政府（联邦制）之间以及国家机构内部的权力分配问题。

我们对宪法的形式和功能及其演变给予特别的关注（代际之间只有时间顺序的差异，并非进化关系）：（1）第一代宪法，主要是美国，英国和法国； （2）第二次世界大战后产生的第二代宪法，主要是德国和日本的宪法； （3）苏联解体后的第三代宪法，东欧，拉丁美洲和南非采用的宪法； （4）第四代宪法，主要为神权国家提出和颁布，以及为阿富汗和伊拉克新兴的政治秩序所采纳；然后我们将探讨（5）新时代第五代宪法的可能阶段。

Lecture Schedule

Lecture 1: Introduction— nature and character of constitutions; what are they, how do they differ from statutes or other laws; must constitutions be written; must be found in unitary documents; and the like. 简介：宪法的性质和特征；国家和国际语境下的宪法与通向立宪主义的理论路径。宪法是什么？宪法与立法或其他法律有何不同？为什么必须制定宪法？宪法必须写在统一的文本中吗？

Lecture 2: Constitutional interpretation; various theories of who interprets and how interpretation ought to be undertaken, including schools of interpretation (textualism, living constitution, formalism/functionalism, originalism, the role of legislative history,  etc.) and constitutional reference points (custom and tradition or political principles, etc.). 宪法解释：关于谁来解释以及应该如何进行解释的各种理论，包括解释流派（文本主义，活的宪法，形式主义/功能主义，原旨主义，立法历史的作用等）以及宪法解释的参考（习惯、传统或政治原则，等等）

Lecture 3:  Allocation of constitutional authority within states (federalism) and in the supra national sphere (the effect and role of treaties and Public International Organizations). Theoretical paths to constitutionalism in national and international context. 宪法分权：在各州（联邦制）和超国家范围内分配宪法权力（条约和国际公共组织的影响和作用）

Lecture 4: First generation constitutions—the rise of the form and the centrality of national characteristics in constitution making (U.S.; France). 第一代宪法：宪法制定中民族国家特征的形式与中心地位（美国；法国）。

Lecture 5: Second generation constitutions—the rise of substantive constitutional ideology and constitutional internationalism (Germany; Japan). 第二代宪法：实质性宪法意识形态和宪法国际主义的兴起（德国；日本）。

Lecture 6: Third generation constitutions—mature constitutional internationalism in the West (South Africa); constitutional crisis in Honduras and Venezuela.  第三代宪法：西方成熟的宪法国际主义（南非）；洪都拉斯和委内瑞拉的宪法危机。

Lecture 7: Fourth generation constitutions—the rise of theocratic constitutions (Iran, Iraq, Pakistan); and the different paths to managing the religious element of constitutions. 第四代宪法：神权宪法的兴起（伊朗，伊拉克，巴基斯坦）；以及处理宪法中宗教因素的不同途径。

Lecture 8: Fifth generation constitutions –rethinking separation of powers, the role of vanguard parties. 第五代宪法：新时代可能的方向；回顾并得出宪法和宪政研究的一般结论。