Political Science Seminar: Jon Elster (Columbia University)

Sabancı University

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Political Science Seminar

Constitutions and the Constitution-making Process

By

Jon Elster

Robert K. Merton Professor of Social Sciences, Columbia University
Chaire de Rationalité et sciences sociales, College dé France

Monday, 27 February 2012
13:30 - 15:00
FASS 2034

Abstract: The talk will have four parts. First, the need for a constitution. (The UK does not have one.) Second, the enforcement of  constitutions. Third, a brief history of constitution-making. Fourth, the optimal design of the constitution-making process.

About the speaker: Jon Elster (Ph.D., University of Paris, 1972): His research interests include the theory of rational choice, the theory of distributive justice and the history of social thought (Marx and Tocqueville). He is currently working on a comparative study of constitution-making processes from the Federal Convention to the present and a project on the microfoundations of civil war.