Overview

The course deals with the theoretical roots and the institutional structures of constitutional democracy in the Western and in the Islamic areas. Contemporary trends and transformations in states’ and supranational organizations’ governance will also be considered.

Professors and teaching method

Prof. Andrea Buratti will teach the first part of the course, dealing with the western pattern of constitutional liberal-democracy.

Prof. Massimo Papa will teach the second part of the course, dealing with the governance of Islamic states and the Islamic idea of democracy.

The students will be required to prepare the lectures through readings assigned well in advance by Professors. Readings will include Essays, Chapters of textbooks, as well as normative texts and Judgments by the main Constitutional and International Courts. Presentations by the students may also be called for.

Syllabus

1. Through a comparative-law approach, the concept of constitutionalism will be introduced, starting from the Revolutionary phase of the Modern Age in England, France and North America.
2. Students will study the traditional categories in the theory of forms of government in the Western World, for each of them focusing on the current inconsistencies, imbalances and transformations.
3. The ‘open constitutional state’ of the second half of 20^th century will be presented, as the starting point for understanding the new features of supranational organizations, and the impact of a new pattern of international relations between states in the global arena.
4. The governance of the main supranational organizations will be explained, with a special attention to the respect of the democratic principle and representative democracy. Constitutional democracy – as experimented in a state-law environment – will be analyzed and discussed as a problematic achievement in the perspective of the new trends (such as, for instance, the supranational interference with individual states’ budgetary autonomy, the role of administrative agencies, etc.). European constitutional space will be, in this section, the focus.
5. The rising and the fall of the Islamic State. The classical theory from Medina period to XIX century. Basic Legal concepts: Umma, dawla, Din. The legal/political discourse in Islam.
6. From the first models of constitutions to the contemporary ones in the Islamic World. The never-ending role of Sharia. The ever-returning question: is Islam compatible with democracy?
7. Some outstanding models: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Turkey, Egypt, GCC Countries.
8. Women and democracy in the Islamic World. 

Timetable

Evaluation

Grades breakdown:

1. Attendance, in-class participation, interaction: 20%
2. Mid-term (written) exam (covering §§ 1-4): 40%
3. Final written exam (covering §§ 5-8): 40%

Reading

For §§ 1-4:

Buratti, Western Constitutionalism. An Introduction (Giappichelli ed., 2016): Chapters 1, 2, 5, 7.

For §§ 5-8:

Ismael, Ismael & Perry, Government and Politics of the contemporary Middle-East: continuity and change (Routledge, II ed., 2016): part I + one chapter selected by the student.