constitutive theory of statehood

Examples of constitutive theory of statehood in the following topics:

• Introduction to Nation-States

  • Although the definition, origins, and early history of nation state are disputed, nation state remains one of the central categories of the modern world.
  • According to a wider working definition, nation state is a type of state that conjoins the political entity of a state to the cultural entity of a nation, from which it aims to derive its political legitimacy to rule and potentially its status as a sovereign state if one accepts the declarative theory of statehood as opposed to the constitutive theory.
  • Some "modernization theories" of nationalism see it as a product of government policies to unify and modernize an already existing state.
  • Most theories see the nation state as a modern European phenomenon, facilitated by developments such as state-mandated education, mass literacy and mass media (including print).
  • The model of the nation state implies that its population constitutes a nation, united by a common descent, a common language and many forms of shared culture.

• The State Constitutions

  • If territories wish to enter the Union (that is, to attain statehood), they seek an enabling act from Congress and must draft an acceptable state constitution as a prerequisite to statehood.
  • Attempts at statehood for the District of Columbia have included the drafting of two constitutions in 1982 and 1987 respectively, referring to the district as the State of New Columbia.
  • 1st Constitution of the Territory of American Samoa, 1 July 1967.
  • 1st Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 3 November 1986.
  • 1st Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 25 July 1952.

• The Missouri Compromise

  • Another stage of U.S. expansion took place when inhabitants of Missouri began petitioning for statehood beginning in 1817.
  • The Missouri territory had been part of the Louisiana Purchase and was the first part of that vast acquisition to apply for statehood.
  • Politicians had sought to avoid the issue of slavery ever since the 1787 Constitutional Convention arrived at an uneasy compromise in the form of the “three-fifths clause.”
  • In 1819, a bill was drafted to enable the people of the Missouri Territory to draft a constitution and form a government preliminary to admission into the Union, and the bill was brought before the House of Representatives on February 13.
  • To prevent similar conflicts each time a territory applied for statehood, a line coinciding with the southern border of Missouri (at latitude 36° 30') was drawn across the remainder of the Louisiana Territory.

• The Politics of Slavery

  • From the very beginning, it was a topic of debate in the drafting of the Constitution, with the slave trade protected for 20 years and slaves being counted toward Congressional apportionment.
  • The protections of slavery in the Constitution strengthened the political power of Southern representatives and the southern economy had links nationwide.
  • Between 1777 and 1804, anti-slavery laws or constitutions were passed in every state north of the Ohio River and the Mason-Dixon Line.
  • Yankees and Northerners predominated in the westward movement into the Midwestern territory after the American Revolution, and as the states were organized, they voted to prohibit slavery in their constitutions when they achieved statehood (Ohio in 1803, Indiana in 1816, and Illinois in 1818).
  • The court ruled that, under the Constitution, Dred Scott (and any other slave) was not a citizen who had a right to sue in the Federal courts.

• Slavery and Liberty

  • The Constitution of the United States was drafted in 1787, and included several provisions regarding slavery.
  • Section 9 of Article I allowed the continued "importation" of slaves.
  • While the Constitution protected the slave trade, in the first two decades after the Revolutionary War, state legislatures in both the North and South made decisions to extend freedom to more men, resulting in a dramatic rise in the number of free blacks by 1810 .
  • Between 1777 and 1804, anti-slavery laws or constitutions were passed in every state north of the Ohio River and the Mason-Dixon Line.
  • As the states were organized, they voted to prohibit slavery in their constitutions when they achieved statehood.

• The Constitution

  • Adopted on September 17, 1787, the Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America.
  • The Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America .
  • The first 10 constitutional amendments ratified by three-fourths of the states in 1791 are known as the Bill of Rights.
  • Following the Glorious Revolution, British political philosopher John Locke was a major influence expanding on the contract theory of government advanced by Thomas Hobbes .
  • This is suggested by the prominent display of the Constitution, along with the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.

• Formal Methods of Amending the Constitution

  • The formal amendment processes are enumerated in Article V of the Constitution.
  • The formal processes of amending the constitution are the processes articulated in Article V of the Constitution.
  • In theory the two houses first adopt a resolution indicating that they deem an amendment necessary.
  • As previously stated, the Constitution requires that at least two-thirds of the members present of both the House of Representatives and the Senate the agree to a joint resolution which proposes a constitutional amendment.
  • Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution that have been ratified, Congress has specified the method of ratification through state conventions for only one: the 21st Amendment, which became part of the Constitution in 1933.

• Dual Federalism: From the Civil War to the 1930s

  • Dual federalism is a theory of federal constitutional law in the United States where governmental power is divided into two separate spheres.
  • Under this theory, provisions of the Constitution are interpreted, construed and applied to maximize the authority of each government within its own respective sphere, while simultaneously minimizing, limiting or negating its power within the opposite sphere.
  • With an emphasis on local autonomy and individual liberty, the theory served to unite the principles held by multiple sectional interests; the republican principles of northerners, the pro-slavery ideology of southern planters, and the laissez-faire entrepreneurialism of western interests.
  • President Jackson used the theory as part of his justification in combating the national bank and the Supreme Court moved the law in the direction of dual federalism.
  • The Court used the theory to underpin its rationale in cases where it narrowed the meaning of commerce and expanded state authority through enlarging state police power.

• The Federalists

  • Federalism in the 1780s was an influential political movement that supported ratification of the Constitution.
  • In 1787, 55 delegates met at a Constitutional convention in Philadelphia and drafted the Constitution, which replaced the Articles of Confederation and outlined a much stronger national government.
  • However, for Anti-Federalists, the Constitution represented an encroachment on the legislative autonomy of the states.
  • These articles, written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, examined the benefits of the new, proposed Constitution and analyzed the political theory and function behind the various articles of the Constitution.
  • The Federalist papers were written to support the ratification of the Constitution, specifically in New York.

• Race and Opportunity

  • Vermont was the first state to outlaw slavery in its constitution of 1777, and other Northern states followed suit.
  • Either through the language of their state constitutions, court decisions, or gradual emancipation acts, all states north of the Ohio River and the Mason-Dixon Line had outlawed slavery by 1804.
  • Following this period, fewer slaves were freed as a result of the development of cotton plantations in the Deep South.
  • Territories seeking statehood above the line would become free states, and those below the line would become slave states.
  • The system of white supremacy that provided cultural justification of slavery also affected the status of free African Americans, who were perceived as members of an inferior race.