Harry Isaiah Black, Staff Attorney PDF Available Here Every 10 years, following the federal census, states are required to redraw their congressional and legislative district maps. In the majority of states, the duty to redistrict …
Multi-state
Explainer: Shaping Democracy: 2023’s Statewide Ballot Measures and What Lies Ahead in 2024
Derek Clinger, Senior Staff Attorney PDF Available Here The past year saw a continued trend of increased interest in direct democracy, with the highest number of statewide ballot measures for an odd-numbered election year in …
State Court Report: “Scholarship Roundup: That’s a Wrap on 2023” by Miriam Seifter
Wisconsin Law Review Special Issue 2023: “Public Law in the States”
Scholarship | State Democracy Research Initiative
Wisconsin Law Review Special Edition featuring papers from our June 2023 Conference
Staff Attorney Emily Lau discusses SDRI’s new website 50Constitutions.org on WORT, Madison’s community radio station
Columbia Law Review: “State Constitutional Rights and Democratic Proportionality” by Jessica Bulman-Pozen & Miriam Seifter
This Article seeks to begin a new conversation about state constitutional adjudication. It first shows how in myriad defining ways state constitutions differ from the U.S. Constitution. These distinctive founding documents, prizing individual and collective self-determination alike, require their own implementation frameworks—not federal mimicry.
State Court Report: “Fifty Unique, Ever-Changing State Constitutions” By Emily Lau
The Yale Law Journal Forum: “The Right to Amend State Constitutions” by Jessica Bulman-Pozen & Miriam Seifter
This Essay explores the people’s right to amend state constitutions, particularly in states that recognize the constitutional initiative. Together with other democratic rights that appear in state constitutions but not the federal charter, the right to amend recognizes popular sovereignty as an active commitment.
Direct Democracy in the States
This Report surveys current state laws affecting direct democracy, with an emphasis on those relating to voter participation and understanding. For instance, what information appears on the ballot, and who prepares it? What standards exist, …
White Paper: Unpacking State Legislative Vetoes
Derek Clinger, Senior Staff Attorney Professor Miriam Seifter, Faculty Co-Director Published: October 13, 2023 Last Updated: December 20, 2024 PDF Available Here Table of Contents Introduction I. Models of State Legislative Oversight of Agency Rulemaking …