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Instructors: Carlos Eduardo Perez Crespo
Event type:
Seminar
Displayed in timetable as:
AM3:
Hours per week:
2
Credits:
4,0
Language of instruction:
German
Min. | Max. participants:
10 | 28
Registration group: AG AM3 (HF, ab WiSe 14/15)
Comments/contents:
The concept of constituent power (pouvoir constituant) was conceptualized by Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès primarily in his text "Préliminaire de la Constitution" (1789) in the context of the French Revolution. The theory refers to the power to create a constitution and, therefore, also relates to popular sovereignty. Thus, the concept of constituent power claims that it is the people who have the power to reform, modify, and create a constitution. However, some questions arise here that has led to a debate among philosophers, lawyers, and political scientists: What are the political foundations of this power? When and how do the people exercise constituent power? What are its limitations and scope? Can this constituent power be exercised outside the borders of nation-states?
The seminar aims to address these questions through the various authors who have developed different conceptions of constituent power in modern political theory. The seminar is divided into three topics: 1. the fundamentals, 2. theoretical developments, and 3. current discussions.
We begin by discussing three essential concepts: constitution, separation of powers, and popular sovereignty. These ideas, which are central to modern political theory history, will be analyzed in the context of the English Revolution (John Locke), the United States' independence, and the political ideas of the French Revolution (Rousseau). On this basis, the concept of constitutional power is introduced to Sieyes. To analyze the theoretical developments, we also examine how the idea has taken an essential reading in the political theory of the controversial German jurist Carl Schmitt in the Weimar Republic and National Socialism context. Finally, the reception in the post-war period is examined, and its application in the context of constitutional democracies and the European Union is discussed.
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