Constitutional Design: Plan II Junior Seminar

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January 20, 2023

This past semester, I took "Constitutional Design," an excellent Plan II Junior Seminar taught by Professor Zachary Elkins. In the course, we explored the professor's various research interests. To borrow from my final paper,

we learned about the history of constitutions in the United States and abroad, drafted contracts for our households using constitutional design principles, and explored avenues for contemporary constitutional reform in the United States.

Prior to each class, we read a relevant book chapter, journal paper, or article and composed a short reaction response.

Our final assignment was to compile our responses into a report,

with light annotations, edits, and modifications to incorporate what I’ve [sic] learned from subsequent readings and class meetings.

I weaved together my responses in a sort of narrative flow, so it should be possible for an interested reader to follow along and get a sense of the course. With Prof Elkins' permission, I've attached my final report here (pdf).

(should be viewable in browser, assuming that is usually an option (ie, not Android Chrome))