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Understanding State Constitutions

For many Americans, the word "constitution" means just one thing: the national Constitution. According to a survey carried out in the late 1990s, almost half do not know that individual states also have constitutions. Scholars have also paid little attention to state constitutions, favouring the apparently more dynamic and significant federal scene. G. Alan Tarr seeks to change that in this book. An authority on state legal issues, he combines history, law and political science to present an account of the distinct and important role of state constitutions in American life. Tarr shows that state constitutional politics are dominated by three crucial issues with salience at the national level: the distribution of power among groups and regions within states, the scope of state and local governmental authority, and the relation of the state to economic activity. He explains how state constitutions differ from the national Constitution in treating not only matters of high principle but also such mundane subjects as ski trails and motor vehicle revenues. He also explores why state constitutions, unlike their federal counterpart, have been so frequently amended and replaced. Tarr concludes that the United States not only has a system of dual constitutionalism, but also has dual constitutional cultures.