This course provides a comprehensive overview of the law of state constitutions. Course topics include the framing of state constitutions; state constitutional rights; state governmental powers; the structures of state government; and state constitutional change, including theories of popular constitutionalism and direct democracy. Each of these topics will be addressed in two ways: (1) through comparison of the treatment of the topics in different state constitutions and the federal Constitution; and (2) through focused experimentation of the topics as they are presented in the Kentucky Constitution and interpreted in Kentucky case law.

This course provides a comprehensive overview of the law of state constitutions. Course topics include the framing of state constitutions; state constitutional rights; state governmental powers; the structures of state government; and state constitutional change, including theories of popular constitutionalism and direct democracy. Each of these topics will be addressed in two ways: (1) through comparison of the treatment of the topics in different state constitutions and the federal Constitution; and (2) through focused experimentation of the topics as they are presented in the Kentucky Constitution and interpreted in Kentucky case law.