History of Political Institutions [DRHDB120]

Learning outcomes

Subject specific skills 1. To become familiar with the major political and constitutional developments in Great Britain, the United States and France. 2. To understand the current functioning of the political systems in these three countries. 3. Master the specific vocabulary related to it. 4. Putting a constitutional text in its historical context and commenting on it. 5. To develop a historical culture capable of decoding current events. Cross-curricular skills 1. Communicate in writing a reasoning, the result of intelligent memorization. 2. Speaking in public (by answering questions during the lesson; by participating in a debate; by presenting a lecture prepared before the lesson; etc.). 3. Defend a point of view in an argumentative manner (in a debate; in an open-ended exam question; ...). 4. Enrich the material taught by personal interventions (orally during a presentation in class; by a written contribution on Webcampus; ...).

Objectives

1. Introduce the political and constitutional history of the "Big Three" Western countries: Great Britain, United States, France. 2. Present the three typical regimes of which they are the respective models (parliamentary regime, presidential regime, semi-presidential regime) and their institutions. 3. To provide a historical and comparative perspective on constitutional law.

Content

The course is divided into three parts: the first covers the constitutional history of Great Britain, starting in the Middle Ages (12th century) with the birth of the parliamentary institution; the second considers the constitutional history of the United States from the War of Independence and the drafting of the Constitution of 1787; the third part studies the political and constitutional evolution of France from 1789 to the advent of the Fifth Republic in 1958.

Exercises description

The course does not include practical exercises as such, but may include sessions of reading and analysis of constitutional texts during or outside class hours. Revision questions will also be posted on Webcampus as the course progress.