Rorschach Lecturer to Examine Constitutionalism

Rorschach Lecturer to Examine Constitutionalism

RICE NEWS

November 4, 1999

The question of whether democracy can work for everyone and the idea that not all nations have the “right stuff” for constitutional government will be the focus of the Rorschach Lecture in Legal History Nov. 11.

Stanley N. Katz, professor at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, will give the lecture “Does Constitutionalism Require Civil Society? And Vice Versa” at 4 p.m. in Sewall Hall, Room 301. The talk is co-sponsored by Fondren Library.

The fall of the Iron Curtain and the struggle of former communist nations to become democracies has reawakened scholars’ interest in ideas of constitutionalism and civil society. Katz’s talk will focus on recent studies and their insights for the new century. He suggests that in planning for democratic transitions, leaders need to think about the capacity of a national people to live by constitutional standards.

A distinguished legal historian, Katz was president of the American Council of Learned Societies from 1986 to 1997. In addition to his position at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson school, he is also director of the school’s Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Research.

The winner of many honors, Katz has also served on the faculties of Harvard University, the universities of Wisconsin and Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

The lecture is free and open to the public.