Programmes
Peace-building
Module 4: Constitutional design in divided societies
The course explores the relevance of constitutional design to the challenges of governance in divided societies. It seeks to expose students to the different combinations of constitutional choices that are available to multi-ethnic states in their endeavor to regulate and manage divided societies. In short, it discusses what can be done in terms of constitutional design to address the communal tension that characterises many of these countries around the world.
The course entails an examination of:
- The challenges of divided societies;
- Bill of rights: The liberal response to the challenges of divided societies;
- Consociationalism;
- Federalism in divided societies;
- Territorial pluralism;
- Powers and functions;
- Electoral systems;
- Representation;
- The courts;
- Language policy in divided societies;
- Intra-substate minorities and dispersed communities;
- Secession and partition as an institutional solution to divided societies;
- The internationalisation of constitutional design for divided societies
