The Constitutionalism of American States (Eric Voegelin Institute
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The CONSTITUTIONALISM fo AMERICAN STATES 8 ▫▫ THE ERIC VOEGELIN SERIES IN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY Voegelin Recollected: Conversations on a Life B C J B The American Way of Peace: An Interpretation J P Faith and Political Philosophy: The Correspondence between Leo Strauss and Eric Voegelin, – P E B C New Political Religions, or an Analysis of Modern Terrorism B C Art and Intellect in the Philosophy of Étienne Gilson F A M Robert B. Heilman and Eric Voegelin: A Friendship in Letters, – C R. E Voegelin, Schelling, and the Philosophy of Historical Existence J D Transcendence and History: The Search for Ultimacy from Ancient Societies to Postmodernity G H Eros, Wisdom, and Silence: Plato’s Erotic Dialogues J M. R The Narrow Path of Freedom and Other Essays E D Hans Jonas: The Integrity of Thinking D J. L A Government of Laws: Political Theory, Religion, and the American Founding E S Augustine and Politics as Longing in the World J H Lonergan and the Philosophy of Historical Existence T J. MP BOOKS IN THE ERIC VOEGELIN INSTITUTE SERIES IN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: STUDIES IN RELIGION AND POLITICS Christian Metaphysics and Neoplatonism A C, R D. S Voegelin and the Problem of Christian Political Order J C. H Republicanism, Religion, and the Soul of America E S Michael Oakeshott on Religion, Aesthetics, and Politics E C C Jesus and the Gospel Movement: Not Afraid to Be Partners W T-U The Religious Foundations of Francis Bacon’s Thought S A. MK The CONSTITUTIONALISM fo AMERICAN STATES Edited by George E. Connor and Christopher W. Hammons Foreword by Donald S. Lutz University of Missouri Press Columbia and London ▫▫ Copyright © by The Curators of the University of Missouri University of Missouri Press, Columbia, Missouri Printed and bound in the United States of America All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The constitutionalism of American states / edited by George E. Connor and Christopher W. Hammons. p. cm. Summary: “This comparative study of state constitutions offers insightful overviews of the general and specific problems that have confronted America’s constitution writers since the country’s founding. Each chapter reflects the constitutional theory and history of a single state, encompassing each document’s structure, content, and evolution” —Provided by publisher. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN ---- (alk. paper) . Constitutional law—United States—States. Constitutions— United States—States. Constitutional history—United States—States. I. Connor, George E., – II. Hammons, Christopher W. KF.C .—dc ø™ This paper meets the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, Z., . Designer: Stephanie Foley Typesetter: The Composing Room of Michigan, Inc. Printer and Binder: Thomson-Shore, Inc. Typefaces: Minion, Cochin, and Bickham Script Publication of this book has been assisted by a contribution from the Eric Voegelin Institute, which gratefully acknowledges the gener- ous support provided for the series by the Earhart Foundation and the Sidney Richards Moore Memorial Fund. This volume is dedicated to D S. L, Professor of Political Science at the University of Houston: Scholar, colleague, teacher, mentor, friend Contents 8 Foreword: The Genesis of a Research Agenda; or, The Story of Four Unbidden Muses xv DONALD S. LUTZ Preface: The Constitutionalism of American States xix GEORGE E. CONNOR AND CHRISTOPHER W. HAMMONS NEW ENGLAND STATES The Slow Evolution of the “Constitution State” ELIZABETH BEAUMONT The Maine Constitution A Tradition of Consensus KENNETH T. PALMER AND JONATHAN THOMAS The Massachusetts Constitution Liberty and Equality in the Commonwealth KENNETH L. MANNING New Hampshire and the Constitutional Movement B. THOMAS SCHUMAN Constitutionalism in Rhode Island Continuity of Colonial Design ELMER CORNWELL The Green Mountain Boys Constitute Vermont CELISE SCHNEIDER ix CONTENTS ⁄ x MID-ATLANTIC STATES Pioneer and Outlier Maryland Constitutionalism in Its Third Century THOMAS F. SCHALLER Constitutionalism in New Jersey Constitutional Failures in a Changing Political Environment MELISSA SCHEIER The New York Constitution Emerging Principles in American Constitutional Thought HOWARD L. LUBERT Pennsylvania: Virtue, Liberty, and Independence JEFFREY P. BAUMAN BORDER STATES Festina Lente The Development of Constitutionalism in Delaware CAROL E. HOFFECKER AND BARBARA E. BENSON Constitutionalism in Kentucky Adapting an Archaic Charter PENNY M. MILLER AND AMANDA L. COOPER Missouri Constitutionalism Meandering toward Progress, 1820–2004 RONALD BRECKE AND GREG PLUMB The West Virginia Constitution Securing the Popular Interest ROBERT E. DICLERICO CONTENTS ⁄ xi SOUTHERN STATES Political Geography and Power Elites Big Mules and the Alabama Constitution ANNE PERMALOFF AND CARL GRAFTON Change and Continuity in Arkansas Politics after the 1874 Arkansas State Constitutional Convention FRANKLYN C. NILES Florida Defining and Redefining Citizen and Community REBECCA MAE SALOKAR Georgia Tectonic Plates Shifting MELVIN B. HILL JR. AND LAVERNE WILLIAMSON HILL The Louisiana Experience Culture, Clashes, and Codification AMY GOSSETT Custom, Culture, and Change The Mississippi Constitutional Experience ANGELA K. LEWIS North Carolina Fundamental Principles JOHN V. ORTH South Carolina Defining Power, Defining People KEVIN HILL The Tennessee Constitution An Unlikely Path toward Conservatism LEWIS L. LASKA CONTENTS ⁄ xii The Texas Constitution Formal and Informal JAMES E. ANDERSON The Development of the Virginia Constitution JOHN J. DINAN MIDWESTERN STATES Understatement and the Development of Illinois Constitutionalism JEREMY WALLING Justice, Order, and Liberty Responsible Citizenship in Indiana JORDON B. BARKALOW Michigan Four Constitutions, Four New Beginnings DAVID HOUGHTON The Ohio Constitution Normatively and Empirically Distinctive JAMES L. WALKER Wisconsin Rejection, Ratification, and the Evolution of a People JOHN ZUMBRUNNEN THE PLAINS STATES The Iowa Constitution Rights over Mechanics DONALD P. RACHETER The Kansas Constitution Conservative Politics through Republican Dominance FRANCIS H. HELLER AND PAUL D. SCHUMAKER CONTENTS ⁄ xiii Framing Government for a Frontier Commonwealth The Minnesota Constitution(s) BARBARA ALLEN A Self-Righteous and Self-Sufficient Method for Governing How the Nebraska Constitution Preserves a Way of Life CHRISTOPHER W. LARIMER North Dakota A Constitution Implements Popular Democracy THEODORE B. PEDELISKI Oklahoma’s Statutory Constitution RONALD M. PETERS JR. AND MICHAEL K. AVERY South Dakota’s Constitution Harkening Backward, Foreshadowing a Future MICHAEL MULLIN AND JON LAUCK MOUNTAIN WEST STATES Two Sides of Colorado, Amplified through Constitutional Redesign VICKY BOLLENBACHER The Constitutional Idahoan DENNIS C. COLSON Montana Community Denied, Constitutionalism Delayed GEORGE E. CONNOR The Nevada State Constitution From Polygamy to Prostitution ROBERTA Q. HERZBERG CONTENTS ⁄ xiv Utah’s Constitution Distinctively Undistinctive DANIEL J. H. GREENWOOD, CHRISTINE M. DURHAM, AND KATHY WYER Wyoming The Equality State BRIAN A. ELLISON WESTERN STATES The Alaska Constitution Promoting Statehood, Providing Stability SALLY H. CAMPBELL Arizona’s Constitution The Madisonian Hope of a Western Progressive State HANS L. EICHOLZ The 1849 California Constitution An Extraordinary Achievement by Dedicated, Ordinary People GORDON LLOYD Hawaii Centralization in a Multi-island State ANNE FEDER LEE New Mexico’s Constitution Promoting Pluralism in La Tierra Encantada JOHN BRETTING AND F. CHRIS GARCIA Oregon’s Constitution A Political Richter Scale HOWARD LEICHTER Washington The Past and Present Populist State HUGH D. SPITZER Index Foreword DONALD S. LUTZ The Genesis of a Research Agenda; or, The Story of Four Unbidden Muses 8 The concept of a Festschrift was first explained to me in third-year German class as a posthumous honoring of someone. There are obvious advantages to the honoree if the Festschrift is not posthumous, but a possible disad- vantage is that the honoree might be asked to contribute something, as is the case here. A certain embarrassment ensues, but out of friendship for the ed- itors and because it provides an opportunity to praise and honor others de- serving of such, I will here describe how I came to be so interested in Amer- ican constitutionalism, especially state constitutions, and particularly in their colonial precedents. My German professor, Anton Lange, also taught me that a muse is some- one called upon for assistance in doing something creative, such as writing a poem, composing a symphony, or writing a book. A different muse sup- ports each creative activity. A muse supposedly helps the writer to begin and to continue writing through the difficult parts and guides his or her hand in the selection of words and syntax, serving, in short, as an inspiration and guide. As it turns out, my life’s research and writing agenda have been in- spired and guided by four “muses,” all of whom appeared without being called upon. It is my pleasure to thank these people, for the first time, in print. It all began, implausibly enough, in third grade, when one day, in Octo- ber , Miss Benedict walked up to my desk in room of Whitmore-Bolles Grade School in Dearborn, Michigan, and placed on my desk a copy of the Mayflower Compact.What possessed her to do so I will never know, but that document, as if dropped from Mars, immediately captured my fancy