Professor Martin Loughlin, NAB 7.07

Available to LLM students; available to other Master's students with permission of the Teacher responsible.

This course is capped at 30 students. Students must apply through Graduate Course Choice on LSEforYou.

This course examines the role of constitutions and the nature of constitutional discourse. It considers the ways in which theorists have advanced understanding of constitutions and devised solutions to a range of constitutional questions. The course deals with the following topics: the scope of constitutional theory; the constitution of government; constitutional politics; representation; sovereignty; constituent power; constitutional rights; the rule of law; liberalism and republicanism; constitutional adjudication; cultural pluralism; theories of federalism; the cosmopolitan polity.

The course involves a weekly two-hour seminar during the MT and LT. Detailed reading lists are provided in advance of seminars and students are expected to participate in discussions.

Students are asked to submit two 2,000 word essays.

Much of the reading for the course consists of classic texts in political thought. Many are available online and the course is delivered through Moodle. The standard text (covering the first half of the course only) is Martin Loughlin, The Idea of Public Law (OUP, 2003). As preliminary reading, students are advised to read: R C van Caenegem, An Historical Introduction to Western Constitutional Law (Cambridge University Press, 1995).

There is a two-hour formal examination in June, which counts for 50% of the marks for the course. In addition, an extended essay of 8,000 words (due on the dissertation deadline) will contribute 50% of the marks for the course. The extended essay will meet the LLM Writing Requirement.