The Importance and Roles of the State Constitution

The state constitution is the state’s fundamental law. It is judicially enforced as a state’s Supreme law subject to federal limitation. The difference between a state constitution and the constitution of the United States of America is that a state constitution may be amended with relative ease. An affirmative majority can implement changes for legislative or private citizen’s initiatives to amend the Constitution. Notably, the state constitution takes precedence over administrative acts and ordinary laws. Even though the state constitution cannot conflict with the national law, it clarifies rights beyond what the national document does, thus providing more rights.

Why the State Constitution Matters

According to Dinan (2006), one of the reasons why a state constitution matters is because of its ease of amendment. Unlike the Federal Constitution, which cannot be easily amended, citizens can amend the state constitution at will. For instance, since 1971, there has never been any amendment to the national document. However, from 2006 to 2020, more than 1,000 amendment proposals to state constitutions were made, and 700 proposals were successfully approved. The ability to amend state constitutions helps Americans enrich their constitution to catch up with the constitutions of other nations.

Moreover, state constitutions help compose the indivisible whole of American society. As a Federal System, the national document sought to affirm Americans’ traditions based on common views nationwide. For instance, governance institutions, including the executive and the bicameral legislature, reflect Americans’ tradition of checks and balances. Each state constitution recommends the formation of an executive arm of government headed by a chief executive (governor) and two local houses responsible for holding the executive into account. This culture is reflected by the national document through the constitution of the Senate and Congress, which hold the Federal government to account. This constitutional principle was far from universal when the national document was first drafted and adopted in 1787 (Libonati, 2005). However, state constitutions have helped entrench the checks and balances principle, leading to its acceptability.

Also, the tendency to include greater detail in state constitutions affirms the diversity in American society. For instance, the states’ taxation, spending, and borrowing powers are clarified by state constitutions (Libonati, 2005). Locally elected officials make these decisions, representing their electorates’ interests. This culture eliminates the distrust that would have existed if elected officials from other parts of the country were responsible for making these laws. Each state has unique economic interests, which may only be effectively addressed by local leaders (Williams & Friedman, 2023). State constitutions facilitate the independence of locals to make laws that protect their economic interests.

Major Roles of the State Constitution

According to Williams & Friedman (2023), one of the fundamental objectives of the state constitution is to establish the organs of governmental power, distribute authority amongst them, and set limitations on these powers. Although much attention is given to the three arms of government, the legislature and the executive, electors are the primary power organ. This is because electors are the ones who elect government officials and establish the Constitution. To that end, the state constitution sets requirements on who qualifies to vote to elect political representatives or change a constitution. The state constitution also sets the framework for the direct involvement of electors in the legislative process through a referendum or individual initiative in the form of a parliamentary petition. Besides, the state constitution states political parties’ responsibilities, status, and management. The state constitution plays a key role in guiding the citizens’ participation in active governance through voting. All state constitutions set these requirements through the wording ‘a qualified voter must…’ apart from Arizona’s constitution, which states who does not qualify to vote.

Consistently, state constitutions play a vital role in the declaration of rights and enumerating detailed constitutional rights as a limitation to governmental power. It is worth noting that the Constitution does not create these rights. Instead, the constitution declares them, but citizens reserve them. The ‘Declaration of Rights segment in a state constitution aligns with the American Constitutional history and experience, which implies that citizens’ rights are vital and should be included in the fundamental law of any jurisdiction (Libonati, 2005). This culture dates back to the earliest English and American constitutional documents that asserted that citizens’ rights matter and should be protected against despotic tendencies by those in power.

Conclusion

In summary, a state constitution is vital in the American governance structure. Although the state constitution cannot contravene the provisions of the national document, it clarifies the contents of the national document and provides more rights. In the American context, a state constitution matters because it can be easily amended, unlike the national document, whose amendment is characterized by bureaucracy that complicates the amendment process. Besides, state constitutions matter because they entrench the checks and balances culture by creating the executive arm of government and a bicameral house to hold the executive accountable. Also, state constitutions protect the unique interests of a state population, given the diversity of the US as a country. Some of the main roles of a state constitution include establishing organs of governance and providing detailed rights and protections derived from the national document.

References

Dinan, J. J. (2006). The American state constitutional tradition. University Press of Kansas.

Libonati, M. E. (2005). State constitutions and local government in the United States. The place and role of local government in federal systems, 11.

Williams, R. F., & Friedman, L. (2023). The law of American state constitutions. Oxford University Press.

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