In association with the Centre for the Study of the History of Political Thought and the Centre for Law and Society in a Global Context, the Mile End Institute is delighted to welcome Bruce Ackerman, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University to give a lecture Britain at the Constitutional Crossroads – Court, Parliament, and Popular Sovereignty in the Twenty-First Century.

Professor Ackerman’s lecture comes at a critical moment as the Supreme Court deliberates on the role of Parliament in the process of Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union and the judiciary has come under fire in the popular press. His talk will consider the interaction of representative democracy and referendums and the role of the courts in mediating the two. There will be an opportunity for audience Q&A after the lecture.

The event will be chaired by Sionaidh Douglas-Scott, Anniversary Chair in Law at QMUL and co-director of the Centre for Law and Society in a Global Context

To register for the event, please click here. Places are limited, and so booking is essential.

Please click here to watch a recording of the event.

About Professor Ackerman:

Bruce Ackerman is Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale, and the author of eighteen books that have had a broad influence in political philosophy, constitutional law, and public policy. His major works include Social Justice in the Liberal State and his multivolume constitutional history, We the People.

His most recent books are We the People: The Civil Rights Revolution (2014), The Decline and Fall of the American Republic(2010), The Failure of the Founding Fathers (2005), and Before the Next Attack (2006). His book, The Stakeholder Society (with Anne Alstott), served as a basis for Tony Blair’s recent introduction of child investment accounts in the United Kingdom, and his book, Deliberation Day (with James Fishkin) served as a basis for “PBS Deliberation Day”, a national series of citizen deliberations produced by McNeill-Lehrer on national television for the 2004 elections. He also writes for the general public, contributing frequently to The New York Times, Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times, and has served, without charge, as a lawyer on matters of public importance. He was a lead witness for President Clinton before the House Judiciary Committee’s Impeachment Hearings, and a principal spokesman for Al Gore before the Florida legislature during the election crisis of 2000. Professor Ackerman is a member of the American Law Institute and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a Commander of the French Order of Merit, and the recipient of the American Philosophical Society’s Henry Phillips Prize for lifetime achievement in Jurisprudence.

This event is hosted jointly by the Mile End Institute, the Centre for the Study of the History of Political Thought and the Centre for Law and Society in a Global Context