UMB Consortium on Comparative Constitutional Democracy
Peter G. Danchin, JSD
Carey School of Law
The global crisis of constitutional democracy has distinctive implications for American politics as well as politics throughout the world. If almost every constitutional democracy is experiencing increased weakness in democratic forms and practices, this suggests that many of the ills afflicting the United States in the second decade of the 20th century have global as well as domestic roots. This new consortium explores these questions by building international research and teaching collaborations with partner universities in Australia, Israel, Italy, and South Africa.
The consortium centers around an annual colloquium bringing together internationally recognized scholars and Maryland Carey Law faculty and students to discuss and engage with critical thinking and scholarship on the state of constitutional democracy throughout the world. It includes reciprocal academic visits each year and an annual summer study program for UMB law students to travel to a partner university for a week of courses and intellectual exchange. In this way, the consortium seeks to establish Maryland as a leading legal academic center and intellectual hub for the comparative study of current global challenges regarding the future of constitutional democracy.