Understanding the Role of State Constitutions in the U.S.

The United States has a federal constitution which constructs the fundamental principles of the nation. One of these principles is the 10th amendment, giving all powers not delegated to the federal government to the states. Like the federal constitution the role of state constitutions is to create a legal and political structure which to base the states government around. State constitutions also include a bill of rights or something similar to it, these outline rights guaranteed to citizens, along with restrictions on certain activates as long as they don’t violate the federal constitution. State constitutions tend to be much longer than the United States constitution. That is because all powers not given to the federal government are reserved for the state leaving a lot of power to be delegated. Most state constitutions include policy and how to handle specific issues related to the citizens of the state. States also have the issue of smaller governments that fall under their jurisdiction. State constitutions have to include provisions on creating and eliminating these local governments and what their functions, duties and responsibilities are.

Constitutions also include provisions on how to amend and change the constitution these vary from state to state.
The federal constitution guarantees that each state must have a republican government, but leaves up the rest of the structuring to the states themselves.

State constitutions establish the 3 different branches of government, executive, legislative and judicial. The state constitution delegates what functions each branch will perform and also states any restrictions of their functions. Organization of state government includes how many seats the legislature will have, term limits and the requirements citizens must meet to fill a role in the government. The function of state constitutions is complex yet very simple to describe. There are two key functions, one being how the government will operate based on the structure it has created, and two the formation of rules that the citizens and government must abide

by.
State constitutions contain specific characteristics that give them power and authority. One being the principle of popular sovereignty stating the government can only exist if the people consent, and the people hold power. Separation of powers and checks and balances are key features when it comes to delegating the authority to the state. The people have a say in who is elected to make the choices and can help influence policy. Like in South Dakota citizens can get amendments put on the ballot with referendums bypassing the legislature. Constitutions vary in many different ways, one being the length and scope of issues they cover. Early constitutions like in the New England states are very short like the US constitution and just lays out the ground work for the structure of government. While other newer constitutions like Alabama are 350,000 words. One of the reasons for this is because when the first states wrote their constitutions the world was simpler, and the government wasn’t needed for as many issues, as time passed and populations grew, so did the government. Another reason the constitutions are different is because of the demographics that made of these states when they wrote the constitution and the issues that mattered to them at the time. These differences are also driven by the political philosophy of the people in the states, Conservatives tend to lean towards less government oversight and liberals towards more. State constitutions also vary on the amount of power they give to smaller local governments. Tax policies are probably the widest difference when it comes state constitutions.