The Development of the Pennsylvania Constitutional Tradition

• In Event: Law, Politics, and Development of State Constitutions in the U.S. Federal System

Abstract

Pennsylvania’s radical 1776 Constitution, the inspiration for such experimentation in the Founding-era state constitutions of Georgia and Vermont, is well studied in American political thought. But Pennsylvania’s subsequent constitutional development, both in its replacement of that document by successor constitutions (1790, 1838, 1874, and the current 1968 text), and the numerous amendments thereto, are less well-known. This paper assembles the changes to show how Pennsylvania’s constitutional tradition evolved from radicalism to conservatism, from one of minimal separation of powers, populism, and ease of amendment, to one with much more traditional institutional arrangements and difficult amendments, and from one whose Declaration of Rights was a thorough statement of political theory and principles to a much more practical text.

Author

• Sean Beienburg, Arizona State University