From Ballotpedia
A state constitution is the governing document of a U.S. state, comparable to the United States Constitution which is the governing document of the United States. Some states have had multiple constitutions and since each state drafts its own, there is great diversity between them, though all have some basic concepts in common.[1]
The average length of a state constitution is about 39,000 words (compared to 7,591 words for the U.S. Constitution including its amendments). The longest state governing document is that of Alabama, which has approximately 389,000 words. That document is also the most amended state constitution in the Union, with nearly 950 amendments as. The average state constitution has been amended about 115 times. The oldest state constitution still in effect is that of Massachusetts, which took effect in 1780. The newest is the Rhode Island Constitution, which was ratified by voters in 1986 after a constitutional convention was held which proposed deleting superseded language and reorganizing the state's 1843 Constitution. The Georgia Constitution is the next youngest and was ratified in 1983.[2][3]
List of state constitutions
Alabama Constitution | 6 | 1901 |
Alaska Constitution | 1 | 1959 |
Arizona Constitution | 1 | 1912 |
Arkansas Constitution | 4 | 1874 |
California Constitution | 2 | 1880 |
Colorado Constitution | 1 | 1876 |
Connecticut Constitution | 2 | 1965 |
Delaware Constitution | 4 | 1897 |
Florida Constitution | 6[4] | 1969 |
Georgia Constitution | 9 | 1983 |
Hawaii Constitution | 1 | 1959 |
Idaho Constitution | 1 | 1890 |
Illinois Constitution | 4 | 1971 |
Indiana Constitution | 2 | 1851 |
Iowa Constitution | 2 | 1857 |
Kansas Constitution | 4 | 1861 |
Kentucky Constitution | 4 | 1891 |
Louisiana Constitution | 11 | 1975 |
Maine Constitution | 1 | 1820 |
Maryland Constitution | 4 | 1867 |
Massachusetts Constitution | 1 | 1780 |
Michigan Constitution | 4 | 1964 |
Minnesota Constitution | 1 | 1858 |
Mississippi Constitution | 4 | 1890 |
Missouri Constitution | 4 | 1945 |
Montana Constitution | 2 | 1973 |
Nebraska Constitution | 2 | 1875 |
Nevada Constitution | 1 | 1864 |
New Hampshire Constitution | 3 | 1793 |
New Jersey Constitution | 3 | 1948 |
New Mexico Constitution | 1 | 1912 |
New York Constitution | 4 | 1895 |
North Carolina Constitution | 4 | 1971 |
North Dakota Constitution | 1 | 1889 |
Ohio Constitution | 2 | 1851 |
Oklahoma Constitution | 1 | 1907 |
Oregon Constitution | 1 | 1859 |
Pennsylvania Constitution | 5 | 1968 |
Rhode Island Constitution | 2 | 1986 |
South Carolina Constitution | 6 | 1896 |
South Dakota Constitution | 1 | 1889 |
Tennessee Constitution | 3 | 1870 |
Texas Constitution | 4 | 1876 |
Utah Constitution | 1 | 1896 |
Vermont Constitution | 1 | 1793 |
Virginia Constitution | 7 | 1971 |
Washington State Constitution | 1 | 1889 |
West Virginia Constitution | 1 | 1872 |
Wisconsin Constitution | 1 | 1848 |
Wyoming Constitution | 1 | 1890 |
External links
- The Green Papers: Constitutions of the Several states
- The Green Papers: State constitutions, an explanation
- The Green Papers: Links to state constitutions
- Citings of Religious Influence in First State Constitutions
Additional reading
- New York Times,"In Seven States, Atheists Push to End Largely Forgotten Ban," December 6, 2014
- Hammons, Christopher W. (1999). Was James Madison wrong?
Rethinking the American preference for short, framework-oriented constitutions. American Political Science Review. Dec. 1999.
- The appendices to this article contain substantial data on state constitutions.
Footnotes
- ↑ The Green Papers, "The Green Papers: Constitutions of the Several states," accessed June 1, 2012
- ↑ The Green Papers, "The Green Papers: Constitutions of the Several states," accessed June 1, 2012
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Your State's Constitution - The People's Document," accessed June 22, 2019
- ↑ This includes the changes made to the state constitution in 1861 along with the Ordinance of Succession. This set of changes in 1861 has both been counted and not counted as a separate constitution by different sources.
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Changing constitutions | Amending state constitutions • Constitutional amendment • Constitutional revision • Constitutional convention • Legislatively-referred constitutional amendment • Initiated constitutional amendment • Preambles to state constitutions • Publication requirements • Rules about constitutional conventions • Number of state constitutional amendments in each state |