Call for Papers: Constitutional Moments, Sixth Illinois-Bologna Conference on Constitutional History: Comparative Perspectives, Champaign, USA [8-9 March 2027; Brill Volume]

Paper proposals are invited for the Sixth Illinois-Bologna Conference on Constitutional History: Comparative Perspectives, to be held at the College of Law of the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois, on 8-9 March 2027.

The international conference is sponsored by the University of Illinois College of Law, the University of Bologna Department of Legal Studies and the Center for Constitutional Studies and Democratic Development (Johns Hopkins University SAIS Europe and the University of Bologna). The keynote speaker is Manuel José Cepeda Espinosa, former President of the Constitutional Court of Colombia.

The series was set up because comparative constitutional law is a well-established field while the comparative side of constitutional history has had far less attention. It offers a forum for current research on constitutional history that crosses national boundaries, and brings together scholars who work on the constitutional history of single jurisdictions so that they can share methods and find new lines of research.

In Bruce Ackerman's account, constitutional moments are exceptional periods in which constitutional change happens outside the formal text but is driven by unusual popular mobilisation and democratic engagement. Although never codified through formal amendment, these informal transformations acquire special constitutional authority. Ackerman identifies four such episodes of higher lawmaking in American history: the Founding, Reconstruction, the New Deal and the Civil Rights Revolution.

Comparative scholars have since asked whether similar moments can be found in other legal systems and how they compare with the American experience. That comparative inquiry is the central focus of the conference.

• How can a genuine constitutional moment be identified, and do the criteria differ across jurisdictions?
• What role do the judiciary, and supreme and constitutional courts in particular, play while a constitutional moment is under way, and later in recognising it, defining its scope and giving it legal force?
• What is the relationship, if any, between constitutional moments and democratic backsliding?
• Should constitutional moments be embraced as expressions of the sovereign will or feared as the product of misguided populism?
• What do different national experiences show about when constitutional moments arise and how long their transformations last?
• Is there a history of failed constitutional moments that informs our understanding of constitutional law and politics?
• Are constitutional moments isolated events, or can they be contagious, triggering others within and across jurisdictions?
• How does the theory apply to supranational organisations, for example the failed ratification of the Constitutional Treaty of the European Union?

Papers on these and related questions are invited. Papers on a single jurisdiction, or even a single case, are welcome, as are papers covering several jurisdictions.

• Send a title and summary of the proposed paper together with your CV.
• There is no word limit, but proposals of 500 to 1,000 words are typical.
• If your abstract is accepted, you must send a draft paper three weeks before the conference for circulation to the other participants.

Email your title, summary and CV to Professor Jason Mazzone at mazzonej@illinois.edu.

Proposals received by 20 October 2026 will receive priority. Proposals sent after that date will be considered only if space remains.

Subject to the usual requirements of peer review, papers from the conference will be published as a single volume by Brill. Authors who accept an invitation to present must agree to have their paper included in the volume. Details on length and formatting for the final versions will be sent to authors later.

The call does not mention any registration or submission fee. Participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodation expenses.

• Jason Mazzone, Albert E. Jenner, Jr. Professor of Law and Director, Program in Constitutional Theory, History and Law, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• Justin O. Frosini, Associate Professor of Comparative Public Law, Bocconi University; Director, Center for Constitutional Studies and Democratic Development
• Francesco Biagi, Associate Professor of Comparative Public Law, University of Bologna Department of Legal Studies; Research Fellow, Center for Constitutional Studies and Democratic Development