Do you believe the US Constitution should be amended? How would you amend it? Is it even possible to amend the Constitution in today's sharply divided political environment?
Students in this course will examine and contextualize the design, history, practice, and theory of constitutional amendment in the United States. Students will explore several key questions, including: (1) Is the US Constitution the world's most difficult to amend?; (2) What values are reflected in the architecture of the country's constitutional amendment procedures?; and (3) Why doesn't the US Constitution make anything unamendable, unlike other countries in the world, which protect human dignity, federalism, and secularism against amendment? Students in this course will learn why no part of a constitution is more important than the procedures we use to change it. Evaluation will be based on a single-question, broadly-phrased, word-limited take-home examination inviting students to reflect on the central themes in this course.