1900 University Ave.
Austin, TX 78705
Law and Democracy
March 3 — 4, 2023Online registration is now closed. Panels will be livestreamed on this page and on our YouTube channel.
The University of Texas School of Law Federalist Society Chapter will host the 42nd National Student Symposium on March 3-4, 2023. The Symposium is organized around the theme Law and Democracy and will tackle important issues surrounding originalism, federalism, and the democratic process.
The Symposium will host five panels on significant constitutional issues that we hope will generate serious discussion among students, scholars, and practitioners:
Featuring a Keynote Address from:
Governor Greg Abbott
SYMPOSIUM REGISTRATION:
Student Symposium Registration ONLY (includes all events except the Saturday night cocktail reception and banquet):
Banquet Registration (This does not include Student Symposium registration. You must register for the Student Symposium Registration as well if you’d like to attend the panels/lunch. Includes Saturday night cocktail reception):
TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIP:
50% TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIP (TRAVEL ONLY—does not include lodging) FOR DUES-PAYING STUDENT MEMBERS.
Click here to JOIN or RENEW your Student Membership ($5)
ACCOMMODATIONS:
The University of Texas School of Law Federalist Society Chapter has negotiated discounted rooms at several hotels. All of the hotels are located in the same area, within walking distance (2-5 blocks) from the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center. We strongly recommend booking your hotel as early as possible to ensure rooms are available and rates are low.
AC Hotel by Marriott Austin-University
2023 National Student Symposium
Bring your boots and hats and join us for Texas BBQ and an ice-cold margarita in the warm Texas sunshine!
Please note: this event will occur on the law school campus, which is about a 5-minute drive (or 20-minute walk) from the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center, where all other Symposium events will take place.
*Free to attend but RSVP Required
2023 National Student Symposium
Please note: Parking is available in the attached Conference Center Garage for $21 per day. Guests may self-park or valet at the University Avenue entrance. Visit https://meetattexas.com/about/transportation-directions-parking for more information.
2023 National Student Symposium
Featuring:
2023 National Student Symposium
There has been much discussion about threats to democracy over the past year. But conceptions of democracy differ. What does democracy entail in our system? Is the U.S. a democracy, a republic, a democratic republic? What does democracy require and what genuinely threatens it? How do we address such threats?
Featuring:
2023 National Student Symposium
Join us for a Cocktail Reception with drinks and light hors d'oeuvres.
Please note: the courtyard closes at 9:00 p.m. in order to limit noise disturbances to hotel guests. The reception will move indoors to the Tejas Room just before 9:00 p.m.
2023 National Student Symposium
Please join us for a selection of breakfast tacos, pastries, coffee, and juice before the first panel of the day.
2023 National Student Symposium
2023 National Student Symposium
Democracy begins with elections. But the process for voting in our elections has been increasingly a matter of political contestation. This panel will consider these process issues, including the Voting Rights Act, campaign finance reform, early and mail in- balloting, and eligibility to vote, including that of felons and aliens. The panel will also consider the question of how the decision-making over these issues should be divided, between the courts and democratic legislatures as well as between the states and the federal government.
Featuring:
Featuring:
2023 National Student Symposium
Many aspects of the United States governing structure have been criticized as inconsistent with democracy or at least with majority rule. Elections for the House of Representatives and state legislatures are subject to gerrymandering. The Senate represents large and small states equally and thus unequally weights the voters across the nation. The Electoral College, too, provides electoral advantages to some states over others. And the institutions themselves sometimes depart from majority rule, most notably in the United States Senate with its filibuster. Can these arrangements be justified, or should they be reformed?
Featuring:
2023 National Student Symposium
Featuring:
2023 National Student Symposium
Featuring:
2023 National Student Symposium
The United States is constitutionally not one, but fifty-one, democracies. How can they all fit together? The oldest issue in our republic is the relation between the federal and state governments: where does the democratic decision-making power of one leave off and the other begin? The question remains relevant today on such issues as the proper locus of decisions about abortion. But the relation of the states to one another is now also pressing as states deploy their authority to influence the democratic decision making of other states, on issues as disparate as gun and climate policy. Are the proper boundaries between our different democracies best policed by the judiciary or by democratic politics?
Featuring:
2023 National Student Symposium
Join us for light snacks in the foyer.
2023 National Student Symposium
Judicial Review has been criticized throughout American history as undemocratic, creating what has been known in the modern era as the counter-majoritarian difficulty. Is the Court in fact counter-majoritarian? To what degree? If so, is it a difficulty? What theories of constitutional interpretation best reconcile judicial review with democracy—originalism or living constitutionalism or something else?
Featuring:
2023 National Student Symposium
2023 National Student Symposium
Join us for a cocktail reception with drinks and light hors d'oeuvres.
*This event requires the purchase of a separate ticket.
2023 National Student Symposium
Join us for a Texas-sized BBQ banquet featuring Austin BBQ. Dress in your Texas best! Attire is dressy, but cowboy boots and hats are welcome!
*This event requires the purchase of a separate ticket.