Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:1. Outline and summarise how constitutional law shapes democracy and democratic institutions in Australia and contrast it to systems in other countries;
2. Recognise and explain problems raised by the use of constitutional law to regulate democratic institutions, including partisan battles over the interpretation of legal rules, and the often elusive search for neutral decision-makers;
3. Evaluate how national or state political culture and unwritten constitutional norms play a role in shaping democracy and democratic institutions, and in turn how constitutional laws and institutions help shape political culture and norms;
4. Outline, summarise and/or synthesise advanced and coherent knowledge of the constitutional laws impacting on elections, voting, political finance, parliament, and political parties, and critique those laws in terms of democratic strengths and deficits;
5. Identify and analyse which aspects of constitutional law are most relevant to issues of political partisanship and political system fairness;
6. Question and research with some independence to produce a ‘Law Reform Paper’ on a sub-topic of constitutional law relevant to themes covered in the course;
7. Communicate law reform ideas to a variety of audiences.
Other Information
In 2016, this course is running as a semi-intensive course for only half of the semester. The seminar format will be a mixture of discussion and lecture-style presentation, with breaks. Discussions will centre in part around informal student ‘Responses’ to readings (see below). While the seminars are three hours long, each is punctuated by hands-on 'demonstrations' giving concrete illustrations of the themes we will discuss. There will usually be at least one demonstration per class. For example, you will try your hand at ‘gerrymandering’ to rort a hypothetical electoral system. We will also have compelling visiting speakers such as government Ministers (federal or territorial) and top government officials.
Indicative Assessment
• Law Reform Paper (60 marks)• Reading Responses (10 marks each x 3): Critical reflection on class readings, due 4pm the day before any three of seven seminars.
• Workshop on work-in-progress (10 marks, pass/fail): Informal discussion to aid students in Law Reform Paper development.”
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
Three contact hours per week. Students are generally expected to devote at least 10 hours overall per week to this course.Requisite and Incompatibility
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 3
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2017 | $3216 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2017 | $4590 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
First Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4960 | 19 Feb 2018 | 27 Feb 2018 | 31 Mar 2018 | 25 May 2018 | In Person | N/A |