Introduction: State Constitiutionalism and State Constitutional Law

Abstract

The bicentennial of the United States Constitution has prompted renewed attention to the nation's constitutional heritage. However, no reexamination of this heritage is complete without an appreciation of the contributions that state constitutions and state constitutional law have made-and continue to make-to American constitutionalism. The initial state constitutions antedated the federal Constitution, and the delegates meeting in Philadelphia in 1787 found in those charters both features to emulate and elements to reject. When the First Congress framed the U.S. Bill of Rights, it too looked to the state constitutions for guidance. Since this early period, state constitutional developments have continued to influence federal constitutional law, just as federal developments have affected the course of state constitutionalism. Even more important, the existence of a federal system has ensured that important governmental decisions remain in the hands of the states, and state constitutions have profoundly influenced both the processes by which those decisions are made and the substance of those decisions. The past two decades have witnessed important developments in state constitutionalism and state constitutional law, such as the rediscovery of state bills of rights as independent protections for individual rights (the so-called new judicial federalism), the rise and fall of the legislative veto in several states, and the increased use of the initiative to amend state constitutions. The essays in this special issue of Publius explore these and other recent developments in state constitutional law in relation to both the operation of state politics and the dynamics of American federalism. In addition, the essays, taken together, reveal the important theoretical and practical issues posed by a system of dual constitutionalism. However, to understand both recent developments in state constitutional law and the broader issues they