|
Course title |
The Constitution & Government of the Republic of China (Ⅰ) |
|
Semester |
113-1 |
|
Designated for |
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS DIVISION |
|
Instructor |
NIEN TSU LI |
|
Curriculum Number |
PS1031 |
|
Curriculum Identity Number |
302E24410 |
|
Class |
04 |
|
Credits |
2.0 |
|
Full/Half
Yr. |
Half |
|
Required/
Elective |
Required |
|
Time |
Thursday 8,9(15:30~17:20) |
|
Remarks |
Restriction: undergraduates AND Restriction: within this department (including students taking minor and dual degree program)
The upper limit of the number of students: 25. |
|
|
|
|
Course introduction video |
|
|
Table of Core Capabilities and Curriculum Planning |
Table of Core Capabilities and Curriculum Planning |
|
Course Syllabus
|
|
Please respect the intellectual property rights of others and do not copy any of the course information without permission
|
|
Course Description |
This is a course to study the constitutional law and learn about how a government has been structured and operates under a written constitution in Taiwan, to a level that is well above layperson but below expert, for first-year college students in a newly visited jurisdiction, from a cultural development perspective.
The first half of the two-semester course is to understand the constitutional framework of the Taiwan government.
The second half will focus on its performance in terms of human rights since the promulgation of the Constitution of the Republic of China in 1947. |
|
Course Objective |
To understand what constitution and constitutionalism mean, and their importance to the study of political science;
to understand the history, the framework and the content of the Constitution and development of constitutionalism in Taiwan under it;
to understand the basic structure, among different government models, of the government that is formed and that operates under the Constitution as a democratic republic in Taiwan;
to understand the meaning of rule of law, separation of power, judicial review and human rights, and their cultural bearings in Taiwan as well as in the development of the contemporary world; and
to understand, most importantly, what the limits on government powers are. |
|
Course Requirement |
Students will be required to attend all classes, read the required course materials, submit discussion questions when assigned, participate in class discussions, and hand in a final paper. |
|
Student Workload (Expected weekly study hours before and/or after class) |
Two to four hours per week. |
|
Office Hours |
|
|
Designated reading |
John Franklin Copper's book, Taiwan: Nation-State or Province? (Routledge: New York, 7th edition, 2020) will provide students with the basic background knowledge of Taiwan needed for this course, in particular, its history and political system. The ebook is accessible online at NTU Library. Students are highly recommended to read the book before starting class; reading of chapters 1, 2 and 4 is required. Please refer to the reading list for other materials posted on the NTU cool. Among them, the text of the Republic of China Constitution and its amendments, as well as the data bank of Judicial Yuan interpretations and Constitutional Court judgments, are raw materials that will often be referenced and discussed in class. |
|
References |
|
|
Grading |
|
|
Adjustment methods for students |
|
Teaching methods |
Provide students with flexible ways of attending courses |
|
Assignment submission methods |
Mutual agreement to present in other ways between students and instructors |
|
Exam methods |
Written (oral) reports replace exams |
|
Others |
Negotiated by both teachers and students |
|
|
Week |
Date |
Topic |
|
Week 1 |
5 Sep 2024 |
Week 1: Introduction to the course and to each other. Why are you here? What are you for? Why do we need to study the Constitution of Taiwan (or the Republic of China)? (What is the Republic of China by the way?) What is this study to do with the studies of political science and/or international relations? How is a legal perspective different from perspectives from other disciplines? What are laws? |
|
Week 2 |
12 Sep 2024 |
Week 2: What is the Constitution, with or without a written code? What are constitutional laws and constitutionalism, and how have they developed since 1215? What is Confucianism and its cultural influence in Asia? |
|
Week 3 |
19 Sep 2024 |
Week 3: Source of constitutional law, the code and statutes, conventions, and the work of judicial review; definitions of constitutional law; rule of law v. rule by law or rule of law v. rule by man. |
|
Week 4 |
26 Sep 2024 |
Week 4: The history of constitutional development in China/Taiwan; from a monarchy to a democratic republic; from authoritarian rule in the martial law era to a revived constitutional democracy; JYI 31; JYI 261. |
|
Week 5 |
3 Oct 2024 |
Week 5 to week 12: Take a first, brief look at the text of the written Constitution and its Amendments, which together have governed the various branches and different levels of government in Taiwan.
Week 5: Preamble to the Constitution; General Provisions of the Constitution; the form of state; functions and ultimate aims of constitutions; fundamental value premises; limited government; mandate of heaven. |
|
Week 6 |
10 Oct 2024 |
Week 6: (National Holiday) |
|
Week 7 |
17 Oct 2024 |
Week 7: What is a right? Bill of Rights; equal protection of law; freedoms and liberties; social rights; right to political participation; unenumerated rights; structure of Bill of Rights of the Constitution; is there a Bill of Duties? |
|
Week 8 |
24 Oct 2024 |
Week 8: Horizontal separation of powers; national assembly and legislature; legislative power; law making and fiscal budget control. President as head of state; executive branches. |
|
Week 9 |
31 Oct 2024 |
Week 9: Judiciary and independence of court; judicial review; constitutionality; Marbury v. Madison; JYI 9; JYI 371. |
|
Week 10 |
7 Nov 2024 |
Week 10: Two additional branches of the five-power constitution; impeachment power and ombudsman; Examination Yuan and composition of bureaucracy; checks and balances and the five-power government; is “five power” an accurate label? |
|
Week 11 |
14 Nov 2024 |
Week 11: Forms of government; the British parliamentary system; the American presidential system; the R.O.C. semi-presidentialism. |
|
Week 12 |
21 Nov 2024 |
Week 12: Vertical separation of powers; direct democracy; guidelines of national policies; constitutional sanctions; international law/transborder law; constitutional amending power. |
|
Week 13 |
28 Nov 2024 |
Week 13 to week 16: Selected judicial cases.
Week 13: General Provisions: JYI 328; JYI 499. |
|
Week 14 |
5 Dec 2024 |
Week 14: Relations between three political branches: JYI 1; JYI 14; JYI 76; JYI 264; JYI 325; JYI 387; JYI 391; JYI 419; JYI 461. |
|
Week 15 |
12 Dec 2024 |
Week 15: Relations between three political branches: JYI 520; JYI 543; JYI 585; JYI 627; (113 CCJ/Ruling 1). |
|
Week 16 |
19 Dec 2024 |
Week 16: Independence of judicial branch: JYI 13; JYI 76; JYI 86; JYI 392; JYI 737; (112 CCJ/SP 9). |