The U.S. Constitution and the States
The Constitution shapes political life by creating the rules for national political institutions, preserving rights for citizens, and organizing how the states fit into the working of the national government in the United States. The Web pages below focus on how the Constitution shapes state-level governmentÑand how state government exists within the ideas and institutions rooted in the Constitution. These Web pages are excerpted from Texas Politics, an instruction resource developed by the College of Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services.
Federalism & the Constitution
The Constitution distributes power between the national and state governments, as well as among the states. Explore how the Constitution assigns different capabilities to the states and to the national government and places limits on both levels of government.
A Constitution’s Constitution?
The Constitution imposes requirements on the states. It grants wide latitude to the states within the federal system, but also imposes requirements on the states to preserve core principles of democratic government.
Table of Contents: U.S. and Texas Constitutions
Exploring an overview of the two blueprints for government reveals important differences between them.
Bills of Rights from the U.S., Texas, and the United Nations
Comparing these different declarations of rights reveals how the concept of human rights reflected in the Bill of Rights has developed since the writing of the Constitution.
Comparing the U.S. and Texas Amendment Processes
Successful constitutions require procedures for updating, and these two constitutions take different approaches to the requirement.
Trends in State Constitutional Change
Different states use different methods to amend their constitutions, but this graph shows a definite trendÑproposals for change keep on coming.
Creating a State Constitution
This model constitution created by the National Municipal League provides a template for writing (or rewriting) state constitutions.
