Assignment

The residents of the District of Columbia demand the right to statehood. They make some compelling points and arguments. The District has its own license plates, prison system, and income tax. It has three electoral votes. But it has no U.S. senators and only a single, nonvoting member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Though it granted the District some self-governing authority under a 1974 home rule charter, Congress retains full veto power over the Districts legislative and financial affairs, including its budget. Congress has been known to overturn laws enacted by the District.

The U.S. Constitution (Article I, section 8) designates DC as the seat of the national government. The Framers believed that a separate district would not only prevent the state, whose territory included the national capital, from exerting powerful pressures on Congress but also prevent the national government from being dependent on any single state for services and security.

Several attempts have been made to gain DC statehood for the 68 square-mile District, including a proposed constitutional amendment that received approval by only sixteen of the necessary thirty-eight states. Congressional hearings on the issue have been held, the most recent one in October 2014. President Obama stated that he favored DC statehood, but he decided not to risk political capital promoting it in Congress.

Read the material in Chapter 3 that discusses Washington DC statehood, and complete the following assessment.

Assessment: List and discuss four reasons that would support an argument for Washington DCs statehood and four reasons that oppose DC statehood. Which position do you adopt on the issue. Why?

Each states constitution is designed specifically to meet the needs of that state. The rich history, economics, values, ideals, and political culture of the state are reflected in its constitutional language. Through their constitutions, the states experiment with different governmental institutions and processes. As Thomas Paine observed in 1791 in his essay entitled The Rights of Man, It is in the interest of all the states, that the constitution of each should be somewhat diversified from each other. We are a people founded upon experiments, and … have the happy opportunity of trying variety in order to discover the best.

Read the section in Chapter 3 of your textbook Bowman, Ann and Richard Kearney (2017). State and Local Government, 10th Edition, Cengage) and complete the following assessment.

Assessment: After reading the assigned material in Chapter 3, list and discuss both formal and formal methods states commonly use to amend state constitutions.