GVPT439J

The U.S. Constitution, written in 1787 and ratified in 1789, was a revolutionary achievement in political science. It was based on an Enlightenment Era theory of human behavior and the best political theory available at the time. But, because it was also a human creation it has a large number of flaws derived from the political and economic realities of the day. In this course, we reconsider the U.S. Constitution and the political structures it created, with a view to proposing either constitutional amendments or even replacing it entirely with something better. Students will learn about the current constitutional structure, consider changes and updates to it, and attempt to negotiate and draft new constituional language for the government we need today.