This is the time of year when students around the world choose among their offers of admission for graduate studies in law here in North America. If I were an applicant hoping to write a dissertation in comparative constitutional studies, my decision would depend largely – but not exclusively – on one question: who will be my faculty advisor? I would want to work with an expert in the field who is respected widely, has a proven record of supervising graduate students to successful completion of their degree, shows care and concern for the life of their supervisees beyond academic matters, and opens their network to make introductions and share opportunities. With that in mind, here are just ten of the many scholars of comparative constitutional studies based in North America, in alphabetical order, I would want as a faculty advisor.

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Yasmin Dawood | University of Toronto

Zachary Elkins | The University of Texas at Austin

Tom Ginsburg | The University of Chicago

Ran Hirschl | University of Toronto

Vicki Jackson | Harvard University

Hoi Kong | University of British Columbia

Heinz Klug | University of Wisconsin

Vanessa MacDonnell | University of Ottawa

Kim Lane Scheppele | Princeton University

Mila Versteeg | University of Virginia

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Of course, many other factors matter greatly when choosing an academic home for graduate studies, including financial support, the academic environment, guidance in the job market application process, and the location. I wish great luck to all applicants in this season of selection!

Earlier this month, a new book by Raphaël Girard hit the shelves: Populism and Courts in an Age of Constitutional Impatience. The book examines the rise of populism while contesting the conventional view that courts can be an effective site of resistance to it. Three countries take center stage as case studies in the book: Armenia, Ecuador, and the United Kingdom. Two of these three jurisdictions are rarely the focus of publications in comparative constitutionalism – yet another reason to read this timely book at the cutting edge of constitutional studies.

Constitutional scholar Marieta Safta has published a superb new paper titled Is the Venice Commission the World’s De Facto Constitutional Court? This noteworthy paper examines the idea of an International Constitutional Court, namely whether it is just a remote possibility or something more. The conclusion is profoundly fascinating: the world might already have an International Constitutional Court. The paper shows that the Venice Commission operates like a global court in light of its influence on regional human rights courts and national high courts across Europe and beyond. This exemplary work has just recently been published in the Vienna Journal on International Constitutional Law. 

The Universidade de Brasília (UnB) will host a three-week tuition-free learning experience for students interested in immersing themselves in the Brazilian legal system. Students will spend mornings taking classes at UnB on a variety of subjects in Brazilian law – from constitutional law to environmental law, from regulatory law to competition law, and beyond – and afternoons in an internship at the Supreme Court of Brazil (STF). This program will be conducted entirely in English. More details are available here.

Earlier this month, we hosted Vik Amar to deliver the second annual Sanford Levinson Lecture in Constitutional Studies here at the University of Texas at Austin. Jonathan Marshfield gave the response. Here we are, pictured below, alongside Sandy Levinson himself.

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The Constitutional Studies Program created the Levinson Lecture in 2024 to honor Sanford Levinson, who at the time had recently announced his intention to retire from the University of Texas at Austin. The Levinson Lecture is an annual event featuring a distinguished scholar in constitutional studies whose interests bisect public law and politics. Kim Lane Scheppele delivered the first Levinson Lecture in March 2025. The third Levinson Lecture will be held in 2027 at the Global Summit on Constitutionalism.

 … the basic structure doctrine, born 53 years ago last week on April 24, 1973, in a famous (some might say infamous) ruling issued by the Supreme Court of India. In Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, the Court declared that the Constitution of India has a basic structure that cannot be destroyed using the power of constitutional amendment. The basic structure, the Court explained, consists at least of these features: (1) the supremacy of the constitution; (2) the republican and democratic form of government. (3) the secular character of the constitution; (4) the separation of powers among the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary; and (5) the federal character of the constitution. To learn more about the basic structure doctrine, I recommend this short essay by Pruthvirajsinh Zala. 

Congratulations to Radian Salman, just recently promoted to Full Professor at Universitas Airlangga. In his inauguration ceremony (the video is available below), he gave a presentation on his research in constitutional law, electoral law, and legislative drafting. A graduate of Universitas Airlangga and Utrecht University, he has published several papers in constitutional studies, including one of his most recent titled Non-Judicial Activities of the Indonesian Constitutional Court: Do They Foster Judicial Reputation? Congratulations to Professor Salman!

International IDEA has just published a new report on how democratic backsliding takes root at the sub-constitutional level. It does not always occur through transformative constitutional reform; democratic backsliding happens also, as the report observes, “through the quiet manipulation of parliamentary procedure.” The report details the procedural playbook of democratic erosion, and brainstorms a counter-playbook to protect democracy.

It was a delight to host Saurabh Dwivedi for a visit to my office here at the University of Texas at Austin. A journalist, television personality, and digital entrepreneur, he was the founding editor of the Lallantop prior to joining the Indian Express earlier this year. He was accompanied in Austin by Dalpat Rajpurohit and Priyanda Rao.

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We were introduced by Swapnil Tripathi, our mutual friend and a recent graduate from the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford.

I hope you will join me at the 2026 Annual Conference of the International Society of Public Law, to be held at University College Dublin on June 29 to July 1, 2026. This will be the largest ICON-S conference ever, bringing together scholars, practitioners, jurists, and others from every single region of the world, spanning the range of seniority, representing every discipline in the study of public law, and providing all in attendance the joyful occasion to celebrate the values of democracy and the rule of law. All are welcome! Register here. 

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Congratulations to all involved in making this conference the success I know it will be, particularly to the two Co-Presidents of ICON-S, the Secretariat of ICON-S, the conference hosts, and the Conference Organizing Committee. I hope to see you in Dublin! 

Registration closes on Friday, May 1, for the 3rd edition of our week-long seminar, organized with the UEES Graduate School of Law, led by Pablo Alarcón Peña. Faculty, students, and all interested persons are welcome to register. Join us! 

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This edition will feature 12 faculty lecturers, all pictured below. We will also enjoy excursions to the Supreme Court of Texas, the Texas State Capitol, and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library.  And we will (of course) enjoy Texas BBQ on more than one occasion. All are welcome! 

Colleagues around the world have joined me on #Mission365. The newest member of the team is Ahmed Abdelgawad, Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Dubai. Thank you! Your participation gives me added motivation. 

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This year I am on a mission to exercise every day of the year. (I missed three days last year.) I have been posting a daily photo of my exercise routine on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X/Twitter, and on my website. Public accountability keeps me striving for my goal. 

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Please let me know if you, too, will take the challenge!