Conference on "The Future of Liberal Democracy" at The University of Texas at Austin, February 21-23, 2019

Liberal democracy is under attack in many countries across the globe. It is under stress in several others. And in those countries where liberal democracy remains strong, political actors are bracing for what may come. On February 21-23, 2019, my faculty colleague Sandy Levinson and I will convene a major international conference on The Future of Liberal Democracy here at The University of Texas at Austin. Our program will gather 30 outstanding scholars from around the world to diagnose what ails liberal democracy and also to debate what can be done to save it. Panelists will examine the erosion of constraints executive power, the growing practice of constitutional replacement by constitutional amendment, as well as legal and political strategies for managing difference and diversity. In addition, panelists will discuss two provocative questions: (1) Is the Trump phenomenon an instance of American exceptionalism or is it part of larger global trend?; and (2) Is illiberal constitutionalism an oxymoron? All are welcome to attend this important program. The draft schedule follows below. For information on suggested travel and accommodation, please contact my colleague Trish Do by email at tdo[at]law.utexas.edu. 
--Richard Albert 

The Future of Liberal Democracy
The University of Texas at Austin
School of Law

February 21-23, 2019
Austin, Texas

Convened by 

Richard Albert
William Stamps Farish Professor of Law, The University of Texas at Austin
Sandy Levinson
W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair in Law; Professor of Government, The University of Texas at Austin

Thursday, February 21

Welcoming Remarks
3:00pm

Ward Farnsworth (Texas)
Richard Albert (Texas)

Opening Keynote Conversation
3:15pm-5:15pm

Jack Balkin (Yale) and Sandy Levinson (Texas)
In conversation with Michelle Goldberg (New York Times)

Friday, February 22

Session I: Illiberal Constitutionalism: An Oxymoron?
9:00am-10:45am

Jan-Werner Müller (Princeton) 
Vlad Perju (BC) 
Wojciech Sadurski (Sydney) 
Kim-Lane Scheppele (Princeton) 

Session II: The Erosion of Constraints on Executive Power
11:00am-12:45pm

Asli Bâli (UCLA) 
Mark Graber (Maryland) 
Russell Miller (Washington & Lee) 
Miguel Schor (Drake) 

Session III: Managing Difference and Diversity
2:00pm-3:45pm

Vicki Jackson (Harvard) 
Ayelet Shachar (Max Planck/Toronto) 
Kristen Stilt (Harvard) 
Sujit Choudhry (WZB Berlin) 

Session IV: Constitutional Identity, a panel in honor of Gary Jacobsohn 
4:00pm-5:45pm

Ran Hirschl (Toronto) 
Heinz Klug (Wisconsin) 
Hanna Lerner (Tel Aviv) 
Monika Polzin (Augsburg) 
With comments by Gary Jacobsohn (Texas)

Saturday, February 23

Session V: The Trump Phenomenon: American Exceptionalism or a Global Trend?
9:00am-10:45am

Samuel Issacharoff (NYU)
Scot Peterson (Oxford) 
Mark Tushnet (Harvard) 
Mila Versteeg (Virginia) 

Session VI: Constitutional Replacement by Constitutional Amendment
11:00am-12:45pm

Chair: Richard Albert (Texas)
Carlos Bernal (Constitutional Court of Colombia) 
John Dinan (Wake Forest)
Rosalind Dixon (UNSW) 
Sanford Levinson (Texas)

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