Part V Themes, Ch.41 State Constitutionalism
John Dinan
From: The Oxford Handbook of the U.S. Constitution
Edited By: Mark Tushnet, Sanford Levinson, Mark A. Graber
Although the U.S. Constitution is generally seen as expressing the American understanding of constitutionalism, the fifty state constitutions reveal an alternative view of constitutionalism within the American political tradition. The U.S. Constitution is a short and spare document; state constitutions are longer and contain extensive restrictions on lawmaking as well as numerous policy provisions. The amendment procedures in the U.S. Constitution are among the least accessible of any of the world’s constitutions; state amendment and revision procedures are...
