The People Made Me Do it: Can the People of the States Instruct and Coerce Their State Legislatures in the Article V Constitutional Amendment Process?
30 Pages Posted: 23 Nov 2011
Date Written: March 1, 2000
Abstract
In 1998, California voters enacted Proposition 225, a law that implicates a host of deep constitutional issues — namely, federalism, popular sovereignty, congressional term limits, and the federal constitutional amendment process. As expected, last summer the California Supreme Court invalidated the measure as violating Article V of the United States Constitution.
This essay addresses the constitutionality of a nationwide movement of which California’s experience is but one small part. By focusing on the text of Article V, I will argue that as there are historical as well as structural and practical arguments supporting my argument that it was not designed to interfere with the preexisting control that people enjoyed in their state legislatures.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
The Relevance of Constitutional Amendments: A Response to David Strauss
By Brannon P. Denning and John R. Vile
-
The Politics of Constitutional Design: Obduracy and Amendability - a Comment on Ferejohn and Sager