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'The Virginia State Constitution' examines constitutional amendments, court decisions, attorney general opinions, and legislative deliberations bearing on the development and interpretation of the Virginia Constitution. It contains a detailed history of the Virginia Constitution, with particular attention to key moments in the state's constitutional development, from the 1776 Constitution to the current 1971 Constitution. The book also includes a provision-by-provision commentary on the evolution and meaning of each section of the Virginia Constitution.

Constitutions --- Constitutional law --- Constitutional limitations --- Constitutionalism --- Limitations, Constitutional --- Public law --- Administrative law --- Associations, institutions, etc. --- Law --- Interpretation and construction

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Since the US Constitution came into force in 1789, it has been amended just twenty-seven times, with ten of those amendments coming in the first two years following ratification. By contrast, state constitutions have been completely rewritten on a regular basis, and the current documents have been amended on average 150 times. This is because federal amendments are difficult, so politicians rarely focus on enacting them. Rather, they work to secure favorable congressional statutes or Supreme Court decisions. By contrast, the relative ease of state amendment processes makes them a realistic and regular vehicle for seeking change. With State Constitutional Politics, John Dinan looks at the various occasions in American history when state constitutional amendments have served as instruments of governance. Among other things, amendments have constrained state officials in the way they levy taxes and spend money; enacted policies unattainable through legislation on issues ranging from minimum wage to the regulation of marijuana; and updated understandings of rights, including religious liberty, equal protection, and the right to bear arms. In addition to comprehensively chronicling the ways amendments shape politics in the states, Dinan also assesses the consequences of undertaking changes in governance through amendments rather than legislation or litigation. For various reasons, including the greater stability and legitimacy of changes achieved through the amendment process, he argues that it might be a more desirable way of achieving change.

Constitutional amendments --- State governments --- States. --- US Constitution. --- constitutional amendment. --- institutions. --- legislation. --- litigation. --- policies. --- rights. --- state constitution.

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Which branch of government should be entrusted with safeguarding individual rights? Conventional wisdom assigns this responsibility to the courts, on the grounds that liberty can only be protected through judicial interpretation of bills of rights. In fact it is difficult for many people even to conceive of any other way that rights might be protected. John Dinan challenges this understanding by tracing and evaluating the different methods that have been used to protect rights in the United States from the founding until the present era.By examining legislative statutes, judicial decisions, convention proceedings, and popular initiatives in four representative states—Massachusetts, Virginia, Michigan, and Oregon—Dinan shows that rights have been secured in the American polity in three principal ways. Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, rights were protected primarily through representative institutions. Then in the early twentieth century, citizens began to turn to direct democratic institutions to secure their rights. It was not until the midtwentieth century that judges came to be seen as the chief protectors of liberties.By analyzing the relative ability of legislators, citizens, and judges to serve as guardians of rights, Dinan's study demonstrates that each is capable of securing certain rights in certain situations. Elected representatives are generally capable of protecting most rights, but popular initiatives provide an effective mechanism for securing rights in the face of legislative intransigence, and judicial decisions offer a superior means of protecting liberties in crisis times. Accordingly, rather than viewing rights protection as the peculiar province of any single institution, this task ought to be considered the proper responsibility of all these institutions.By undertaking a comparison of these institutional methods across such a wide expanse of time, Keeping the People's Liberties makes a highly original contribution to the literature on rights protection and provides a new perspective on debates about the contemporary role of representative, populist, and judicial institutions.

Politique et gouvernement --- Pouvoir legislatif --- Pouvoir judiciaire --- Droits civils et politiques --- Pouvoir constituant --- Politics and government. --- Legislative power --- Judicial power --- Constituent power --- Civil rights --- Civil rights. --- Basic rights --- Civil liberties --- Constitutional rights --- Fundamental rights --- Rights, Civil --- Constitutional law --- Human rights --- Political persecution --- Judiciary --- Justiciability --- Power, Judicial --- Courts --- Implied powers (Constitutional law) --- Judicial independence --- Separation of powers --- Power, Legislative --- Judicial review --- États. --- U.S. states. --- States. --- Law and legislation --- United States. --- United States --- Legal history