Constitutional Reforms in Russia (Coursera)

Since adoption of the current Russian constitution of 1993 this constitutional system made a great evolution. The course will help to understand what ideas and concepts stand behind the Russian politics, both domestic and international, which principles lie in the basement of the legal framework for cultural, political and economic life of the Russian society. Foreigners and Russians see the Russian constitutional system in the «distorting mirror» of mass media; both of them need professional analysis of how the legal, governmental and economic systems are designed in Russia. The course will present this kind of analysis by a Russian scholar, familiar to contemporary development of constitutionalism in the world, who is able to present the view from inside Russia, but to position the Russian constitutional system in the a wide context of the world constitutionalism.
On the finishing this course the students will:

1. make analysis of legislative and judicial acts, taken by Russian state authorities in the context of the Russian constitution, its main values and basic principles
2. to give expert assistance for interaction with the Russian government structures in a wide range of political and economic questions

Know:

1. the specific of the Russian constitution, Russian legal, political and economic system
2. the history of forming and development of the contemporary constitutional system of Russia

Have the capacity to:

1. better understand of political, economic and legal processes in Russia
2. make prognosis of the development of the Russian legislation and judicial practice, the reaction of the Russian state bodies to events in the world and to the decisions made by foreign states and international organizations.

Syllabus

WEEK 1: Introduction
WEEK 2: Constitutional Exceptionalism: the Russian Case
WEEK 3: Human Rights in Russia
WEEK 4: Political System of Russia
WEEK 5: Russian Constitutional Economics