Law, Politics, and Development of State Constitutions in the U.S. Federal System

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

State constitutions have long played a prominent role in state politics and in the U.S. federal system, but they are attracting increasing attention in recent years as a result of U.S. Supreme Court rulings on abortion rights and gerrymandering and because of state constitutional amendments and state court rulings with important implications for rights, policies, and governing institutions. Participants in this panel will present papers analyzing the law, politics, and development of state constitutions from various dimensions -- analyzing the origins of natural rights clauses in state bills of rights, assessing the consequences of policy-entrenching amendments, investigating spending in state constitutional convention referendum campaigns, and tracing the development of the Pennsylvania constitution.

Sub Unit

• Division 28: Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations

Individual Presentations

• Social Contracts: State Convention Drafting History of Natural Rights Guarantees - Anthony Brian Sanders, Institute for Justice

• Consequences of Flexible Amendment Processes: The Politics of Policy Entrenchment - John Dinan, Wake Forest University

• Campaign Spending and Convention Referendums: Alaska's 2022 Convention Referendum - J.H. Snider, The State Constitutional Convention Clearinghouse

• The Development of the Pennsylvania Constitutional Tradition - Sean Beienburg, Arizona State University

Chair

• Robinson Woodward-Burns Howard University

Discussants

• Paul E. Herron Providence College

• Robinson Woodward-Burns Howard University