Law, Democracy and Populism: The Rise and Fall of Constitutional Democracy
Module LAW2153 for 2023/4

Undergraduate Module Descriptor

LAW2153: Law, Democracy and Populism: The Rise and Fall of Constitutional Democracy

This module descriptor refers to the 2023/4 academic year.

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

I. Theory

Law, Constitutions and Constitutionalism
The Rule of Law and the Idea of Constitutional Democracy
The Rise of Constitutional Democracy and the “End of History”
The Populist Critique of the “Liberal” Component of Constitutional Democracy: Populism, “the People” and Popular Sovereignty

II. From Theory to Practice

The Legal Implications of Contemporary Populism (I): Populism as a Constitutional Project
The Legal Implications of Contemporary Populism (II): Populism and Courts
Democratic Backsliding: The Hollowing Out / Fall of Constitutional Democracy?
Rejuvenating Constitutional Democracy?

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
22	128

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled learning and teaching activities	20	10 x 2-hour seminars
Scheduled learning and teaching activities	2	2 x 1-hour lectures (i.e., introduction and further guidance on the assessment)
Guided independent study	50	Preparation for seminars (including reading time and preparation for discussion questions)
Guided independent study	15	Independent research and writing of formative essay / plan for summative essay
Guided independent study	23	Independent research and preparation for presentation (formative)
Guided independent study	40	Independent research and writing of summative essay

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).