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The course aims to understand how the two largest common-law legal systems protect rights, with and without written constitutions. While the American system relies on a written bill of rights and a judicial power to invalidate legislation that infringes rights, the British rule of parliamentary sovereignty ultimately requires political rather than legal checks. Both systems thus present very different conceptions of rights protections and institutional responsibilities, as well as majoritarian versus anti-majoritarian views of democracy, within broadly similar political and legal traditions. However, the course will also examine internal challenges to each national system. The British constitution has undergone tremendous changes in recent decades, with the Human Rights Act, devolution of power to regional assemblies, and a new, independent Supreme Court. These developments have arguably undermined parliamentary sovereignty and enhanced the power of the courts to protect rights. In the United States, controversies continue over whether the Constitution should be interpreted according to the original intent of the Constitution's framers or in light of social change and international legal trends. Both approaches have considerable impact on the extent of rights protections, and the role of the judiciary in enforcing them. Read the full course description.