Seminar: MA Gewaltenteilung - Details

Seminar: MA Gewaltenteilung - Details

Allgemeine Informationen

Veranstaltungsname Seminar: MA Gewaltenteilung
Semester WiSe 2026/27
Aktuelle Anzahl der Teilnehmenden 15
erwartete Teilnehmendenzahl 30
Heimateinrichtung Politikwissenschaft
Beteiligte Einrichtungen Systemanalyse und Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft
Veranstaltungstyp Seminar in der Kategorie Offizielle Lehrveranstaltungen
Nächster Termin Mittwoch, 21.10.26, 14:00 - 16:00 Uhr Seminarraum 6 (R.E.62) [EA 26-27] Active Learning Space
Lehrsprache(n) Englisch

Kommentar/Beschreibung

Governments have long relied on the principle of necessity for legitimating their exercise of extraordinary powers. Emergency powers, delegated rule-making, and states of exception have been used in the name of sovereignty, security, development, and, increasingly, efficiency. However, what happens to the balance of power when powers that are meant to be exceptional end up forming a regular part of governmental functioning? This seminar addresses this question. We start by looking at colonial rule, where many of the exceptional measures were a part of the regular governmental functioning, and move on to understand how these practices have persisted, transformed, and been adopted after decolonization.

The seminar adopts an historical and comparative perspective, where the state of exception is not seen as an outlier, but as an integral part of political and legal governance. In terms of empirical grounding, our discussion centers around India and Pakistan, with some reference to other former colonies. In terms of theory, we look at Carl Schmitt's ideas regarding the interaction between the norm and the exception and his subsequent critics and adherents like Giorgio Agamben and John Reynolds. Throughout the seminar, we ask how claims of sovereignty, security, development, and administrative efficiency have been balanced against legality, accountability, and institutional checks and balances.

By the end of the seminar, students should be able to assess how exceptional powers affect the balance between institutions and to think critically about the ways in which colonial practices of government continue to shape postcolonial politics and law.


All readings and class discussion will be in English.