FIŞA DISCIPLINEI

COURSE SYLLABUS
1. DATE DESPRE PROGRAM
PROGRAM IDENTIFICATION DETAILS
1.1 Instituţia de învăţământ superior
Higher education institution
1.2 Facultatea
Faculty
1.3 Departamentul
Department
1.4 Domeniul de studii
Field of studies
1.5 Ciclul de studii
Cycle of studies (degree)
1.6 Programul de studii / calificarea
Degree program / qualification
UNIVERSITATEA DIN BUCUREŞTI
UNIVERSITY OF BUCHAREST
FACULTATEA DE ȘTIINȚE POLITICE
FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
DEPARTAMENTUL DE ȘTIINȚE POLITICE, RELAŢII INTERNAŢIONALE
ŞI STUDII DE SECURITATE
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
AND SECURITY STUDIES
ȘTINȚE POLITICE
POLITICAL SCIENCE
LICENȚĂ
BACHELOR OF ARTS
ȘTINȚE POLITICE ÎN LIMBA ENGLEZĂ / ȘTINȚE POLITICE
POLITCAL SCIENCE IN ENGLISH / POLITICAL SCIENCE

2. DATE DESPRE DISCIPLINĂ

COURSE IDENTIFICATION DETAILS
2.0 Codul disciplinei
Course code SP1221
2.1 Denumirea disciplinei COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONALISM: POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS AND PROCEDURES
Course title CONSTITUŢIONALISM COMPARAT: INSTITUŢII POLITICE ŞI PROCEDURI
2.2 Titularul activităţilor de curs
Prof.univ.dr. Ioan STANOMIR
Instructor
2.3 Titularul activităţilor de seminar
-
Teaching assistant
2.4 Anul de studii 2.5 Semestrul 2.6 Tipul de evaluare 2.7 Regimul disciplinei
Year
II Semester I (III) Evaluation type
E Course type OBL

3. TIMPUL TOTAL ESTIMAT (ORE PE SEMESTRU) AL ACTIVITĂŢILOR DIDACTICE

ESTIMATED WORKLOAD (HOURS/SEMESTER)
3.1 Număr de ore pe săptămână din care 3.2 Curs 3.3 Seminar
Number of teaching hours/week
3 of which Course 2 Seminar 1
3.4 Total ore din planul de învăţământ din care 3.5 Curs 3.6 Seminar
Total number of teaching hours within the program
42 of which Course 28 Seminar 14
3.7 Total ore studiu individual 3.8 Total ore pe semestru 3.9 Număr de credite
Student workload for individual study
58
Total student workload / semester
100
ECTS
4
Studiu după manual, suport de curs, bibliografie şi notiţe
34
DISTRIBUTION OF INDIVIDUAL STUDY

Individual study of texbooks, handbooks/reader, bibliography and notes

DISTRIBUŢIA FONDULUI DE TIMP

Documentare suplimentară în bibliotecă, pe platformele electronice de specialitate şi pe teren

10
Additional research (library, electronic resources, potential fieldwork)
Pregătire seminarii, teme, referate, portofolii şi eseuri
WORKLOAD

10
Homework (preparing seminar presentations, portfolios, critical essays, research papers etc.)
Tutoriat (opţional)
1
Individual consultations (optional)
Examinări
3
Evaluations / exams
Alte activităţi -
Other activities

4. PRECONDIŢII
PRECONDITIONS
4.1 De curriculum N/A
Curriculum-related
4.2 De competenţe N/A
Skills-related

5. CONDIŢII
CONDITIONS
5.1 De desfăşurare a cursului Access to overhead/video projector, Internet and workstation (desktop, laptop, tablet
For running the course etc.)

1/5
6 .COMPETENŢE SPECIFICE ACUMULATE
ACQUIRED SKILLS
6.1 Competenţe profesionale The fundamental aim of this course is to provide the students with a clear image of the
Professional skills basic constitutional concepts, as they evolved in the last two centuries. The course will
focus on a number of key topics, reflected in theoretical contributions and cases solved
by the bodies entrusted with the constitutional adjudication
6.2 Competenţe transversale The ability to relate to other concepts that are involved in the study of political science
Cross-cutting skills
7. OBIECTIVELE DISCIPLINEI
GOAL & OBJECTIVES
7.1 Obiectivul general al disciplinei
Goal
7.2 Obiective specifice
Objectives
8. CONŢINUTURI
CONTENT
Curs
Course
A. Constitutional theory
1. Constitution and constitutionalism:
a study of key concepts. Written
versus unwritten constitutions: the
English case.
2. Constitutional supremacy and
constitutional adjudication. European
and American solutions: a
comparison
3. Militant democracy and the
limitations of political activity in a
constitutional democracy- the
paradigm of intolerant democracies.
4. The rule of law and its significance.
Case study: the state of emergency as
a constitutional challenge
5. Federalism and the vertical
separation of powers. And on how to
distinguish between different
manners of organizing the state.
Federalism and secession. The
concept of devolution
6. Democracy and its double-
elections without democracy
7. Parliament and the legislative
branch: the free mandate, the
representative government and
structures of the assemblies. The
legislative branch and the delegation
of the legislative function
8. The executive power and its
significance.
Contrasting presidentialism and
parliamentarism.
To consolidate an articulate view of the constitutional phenomena
To explore the meaning of the following concepts and institutions:
- the concept of constitution and the meaning of constitutionalism;
- models of constitutional adjudication (American judicial review and European
constitutional courts);
- separation of powers and American checks and balances;
- unitary state, regionalisation and federalism. Elastic and cooperative federalism;
- the legislative body and its functions;
- the executive branch and its relationship with parliament.
- Individual rights and liberties
Metode de predare Observaţii
Teaching methods Observations
Readings: (AS), pp.9-43; Giovanni Sartori, “Constitutionalism: a 3h
preliminary discussion”, in The American Political Science Review, 4/
1962, pp.853- 864; Dieter Grimm, ”Integration by constitution”, in
International Journal of Constitutional Law, 2- 3/ 2005, pp. 193- 208.
Readings: (AS), pp.225- 245; “Marbury versus Madison”, in (CC), pp.101- 3h
103; Louis Favoreu, “Constitutional review in Europe”, in (CC), pp. 114-
125; John Ferejohn, Pasquale Pasquino, “Constitutional adjudication:
lessons from Europe”, in Texas Law Review, 82/ 2004, pp.1671- 1705.
Readings: Gregory H. Fox, Georg Nolte, “Intolerant democracies”, in 3h
Harvard International Law Journal, 36/1995, pp.1-70; “Lustration case,
Czech and Slovak republic “, in ( C C), pp.1270- 1273; “Socialist Reich
party case, Germany “, in ( C C ), pp.1276- 1278; “Refah Partisi, Turkey”,
in (CC ), pp. 1281- 1284.
Readings: (AS), pp. 205-225; (CC), pp. 328- 340,344- 349; John Ferejohn, 3h
Pasquale Pasquino, “The law of the exception. A typology of emergency
powers”, in International Journal of Constitutional Law, 2/2004, pp. 210
– 239.
Readings: (CC), pp.350-352; “Quebec objection to a resolution to amend 3h
the Canadian constitution”, in (CC), pp.375-378; Robert Senelle, “The
reform of the Belgian state”, in (CC), pp.381- 84; Juan Jose Solazabal,
”Spain: federation in the making?“, in (CC), pp.388-392; A.A.
Olowofoyeku, “Devolution: conceptual and implementational
problems”, in Anglo- American Law Review, 29/2000, pp.133- 166.
Readings: Larry Diamond. “Thinking about hybrid regimes”, in Journal of 3h
Democracy, April 2002, pp.22-35; Andreas Schedler, “The menu of
manipulation”, in Journal of Democracy, April 2002, pp. 36- 50; Daniel
Calingaert, “Election rigging and how to fight it”, in Journal of
democracy, July 2006, pp.139- 151.
Readings: (AS), pp.103-173. 3h
Readings: (AS), pp. 173- 205; Robert Elgie, “Semipresidentialism: 3h
variations on a theme”, in Journal of Democracy,
3/2005, pp.98-111
Juan Linz, “The virtues of parliamentarism”, “ Journal of democracy”,
2/5
Semipresidentialism as a
constitutional framework
9. Fundamental rights and individual
liberties.
Vol 1. fall 1990,4, pp.84-91.
Juan Linz, “ The perils of presidentialism”, “ Journal of democracy”,
volume 1., winter 1990, pp.51- 69.
Readings: Carl. J. Friedrich, “Rights, liberties, freedoms: a reappraisal, “ 3h
in The American Political Science Review, 4/1963, pp.841-854;Universal
declaration of human rights; The international covenant on civil and
political rights, The international covenant on economic, social and
cultural rights;

10. The German constitutional regime Readings: Donald P. Kommers, “German constitutionalism: a 3 h
prolegomenon”, in Emory Law journal, 40/1991, pp.838- 874.
11. the rise of asian constitutionalism. Readings: Albert H. Y . Chen,” Pathways of western liberal constitutional
development in Asia: a comparative study of five major nations”, in “
International journal of constitutional law”, 8/ 2010. pp.849-884.
12. african constitutional Readings: H. Kwasi Prempeh, “Africa’s constitutionalism revival”: false 3 h
predicament. start or new dawn?“ in International Journal of Constitutional Law,
3/2007. pp.469-506; Arthur Chaskalson, “From wickedness to equality:
the moral transformation of South African law”, in International Journal
of Constitutional Law, pp. 4/2003, pp.590- 609.
B. Romanian constitutionalism: a brief introduction
13. Individual rights and freedoms. The Romanian Constitution, art. 1- 60, 152- 154. 3h
Constitutional rigidity and the
mechanism of amending the
constitution.
14. The parliament: legislation and The Romanian Constitution, art. 6- 80, 115, 80-116. 3h
delegated legislation. The executive
branch: the president and the
cabinet.
15. Constitutional justice in Romania: The Romanian Constitution, art. 142-144. 3h
the Constitutional Court
Bibliography
Bibliography
(AS) Andras Sajo, “Limiting Government. An introduction to constitutionalism”, C.E. U. Press, Budapest, 1999.
(CC) Norman Dorsen, M. Rosenfeld, Andras Sajo, Susanne Baer, “Comparative constitutionalism. Cases and materials. “ Thomson
& West, 2003.

Bibliography for the research paper

http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/federal,“The Federalist Papers”.
The constitutions of the E.U countries + the constitutions of the United States, Argentina, Japan, Canada, South Africa, Israel,
Russia, Moldavia, Croatia, Georgia, Namibia, New Zeeland, Australia, Iraq., Switzerland.
The official website of the “Venice Commission for democracy through law”, http://www.venice.coe.int
Bruce Frohnen (editor), The American Republic. Primary sources, Liberty Fund, Indianapolis, 2002.

9. SCURTĂ DESCRIERE*
BRIEF DESCRIPTION*
* COROBORAREA CONŢINUTURILOR DISCIPLINEI CU AŞTEPTĂRILE REPREZENTANŢILOR COMUNITĂŢII EPISTEMICE, ASOCIAŢIILOR PROFESIONALE ŞI
ANGAJATORI REPREZENTATIVI DIN DOMENIUL AFERENT PROGRAMULUI / CORRELATION BETWEEN THE CONTENT OF THE COURSE AND THE
NEEDS/EXPECTATIONS OF THE EPISTEMIC COMMUNITY, PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION S AND/OR SIGNIFICANT EMPLOYERS RELEVANT FOR THE PROGRAM
The aim of this course is to provide the students wth a comprehensive view on tha topic of constitutionalism.

10. EVALUARE
EVALUATION
Tip activitate 10.1 Criterii de evaluare 10.2 Metode de evaluare 10.3 Pondere din nota finală
Actitity Evaluation criteria Evaluation methods Per cent of final grade
10.4 Curs Comprehension and use Midterm paper The midterm paper is
Course of concepts (mandatory condition for the credits) mandatory in order to be
A midterm paper is scheduled to be delivered admitted into the final exam.
during the semester. The students are supposed to No mandatory presence is
identify and comment upon a recent event required.
(domestic or international), with constitutional
significance. The paper would not exceed 7000
characters, with spaces. The comment would take
into account the key constitutional concepts
presented during the course.
3/5
 Comprehension and use Research paper/ final exam The final grade would consist
of concepts The papers are supposed to cover one of the topics from the grade awarded to
mentioned here; their dimension could range the final paper.
between 15.000 and 17.000 characters (with
spaces).

General topics for the final paper:

- constitution and constitutionalism.
- the origins of modern American
constitutionalism.
- constitution and constitutionalism in post 1989
Romania: a case study.
- the judicial review in the United States: its
impact on the civil rights dynamics and on the
political life.
- the European model : the constitutional justice
and its significance.
- federalism and regionalisation: a comparative
examination, at the European level.
- political regionalisation: a workable solution for
Romania?
- one or two houses in the parliament? Come up
with arguments to support your opinion.
- political parties in constitutional democracies: a
European case study.
- the significance of “the lustration law” in post
1989 Romania.
- choose three essays from the “Federalist papers”
and write down a commentary starting from them.
- choose one of the constitutions mentioned in the
bibliography list and analyze the institution of the
head of state.
-choose one of the constitutions mentioned in the
bibliography list and comment upon the
relationship between the parliament and the
executive branch, including the domain of
delegated legislation.
- civil rights and liberties: choose, in order to
analyze, five of the fundamental rights to be found
in an international/ European document or in a
constitution to be found in the bibliography list.
- choose, in order to analyze, five articles from the
current Romanian constitution.
- let’s suppose that you are part of an assembly
called upon to write down a new constitution for
Romania. Come up with a sketch of the draft
proposal for one of the chapters to be found there.
Indicate the main constitutional ideas and
principles
10.5 Standard minim de performanţă Final grade 5 (five)
Threshold for the acquisition of the ECTS credits
Students should be aware of the Department’s policy of academic integrity: cheating, falsification, forgery, multiple
submission, plagiarism, complicity and computer misuse will automatically trigger a failing grade for the respective course.
According to the provisions of the Charter of the University of Bucharest, students found guilty of plagiarism can be expelled
from the University without the right to appeal.

Data completării Semnătura titularului de curs/seminar

Data avizării în departament Semnătura Directorului de Department

4/5
5/5