Background
The Center’s commitment to the study of the American states dates back to Daniel J. Elazar’s pioneering work, American Federalism: A View From the States, first published in 1966. Over the years, the Center has advanced research on the role of the states in the federal system, state political cultures, and state constitutions.
Politics and Governments of the American States Series
In 1984, the Center entered into an agreement with the University of Nebraska Press to publish “Governments and Politics of the Fifty States,” a book series with volumes on the governments and politics of each of the 50 states. The General Editor was Daniel J. Elazar. Ellis Katz and John Kincaid were Associate Editors. The Advisory Editors were Thad Beyle, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Diane D. Blair, University of Arkansas; Samuel Gove, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana; Robert Miewald, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Kenneth Palmer, University of Maine, Orono; Charles Press, Michigan State University; and Stephen L. Schechter, Russell Sage College. John Kincaid assumed responsibility for the series as General Editor in 1994. The following books were published as part of the series:
Thomas, James D. and William H. Stewart. 1988. Alabama Government and Politics. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
McBeath, Gerald A. and Thomas A. Morehouse. 1994. Alaska Politics and Government. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Berman, David R. 1998. Arizona Politics and Government: The Quest for Autonomy, Democracy, and Development. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Blair, Diane D. 1988. Arkansas Politics and Government: Do the People Rule? Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Cronin, Thomas E. and Robert D. Lowry. 1993. Colorado Politics and Government: Governing the Centennial State. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Pratt, Richard C. with Zachary Smith. 2000. Hawaii Politics and Government: An American State in a Pacific World. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Gove, Samuel K. and James D. Nowlan. 1996. Illinois Politics and Government: The Expanding Metropolitan Frontier. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Miller, Penny M. 1994. Kentucky Politics and Government: Do We Stand United? Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Palmer, Kenneth T. G., Thomas Taylor, and Marcus A. LiBrizzi. 1992. Maine Politics and Government. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Browne, William P. and Kenneth VerBurg. 1995. Michigan Politics and Government: Facing Change in a Complex State. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Krane, Dale and Stephen D. Shaffer. 1992. Mississippi Government and Politics: Modernizers versus Traditionalists. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Driggs, Don W. and Leonard E. Goodall. 1996. Nevada Politics and Government: Conservatism in an Open Society. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Salmore, Barbara G. and Stephen A. Salmore. 1998. New Jersey Politics and Government: Suburban Politics Comes of Age. 2d ed. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Liebschutz, Sarah F. with Robert W. Bailey, Jeffrey M. Stonecash, et al. 1998. New York Politics and Government: Competition and Compassion. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Fleer, Jack D. 1994. North Carolina Government and Politics. Lincoln, NE: University Press.
Morgan, David R., Robert E. England, and George G. Humphreys. 1991. Oklahoma Politics and Policies: Governing the Sooner State. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Clucas, Richard A., Mark Henkels, and Brent S. Steel, eds. 2005. Oregon Politics and Government: Progressives versus Conservative Populists. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Graham, Jr., Cole Blease and William V. Moore. 1994. South Carolina Politics and Government. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Brisbin, Jr., Richard A., Robert Jay Dilger, Allan S. Hammock, et al. 1996. West Virginia Politics and Government. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Conant, James K. 2006. Wisconsin Politics and Government: America’s Laboratory of Democracy. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Other Activities
In October 1997, the Center began its third year of Delaware Valley Constitution Seminars held several times a year focusing on state constitutional documents. The first year’s seminars focused on colonial documents, thereafter on historic state documents. The seminars were organized by Center Fellow G. Alan Tarr and Center Associate Robert F. Williams of Rutgers University, Camden, hosted by Center Associate Joseph Hennessey, and attended by 15 – 20 scholars in the Philadelphia area.
“States in the Federal System.” Panel sponsored by the Center for the Study of Federalism, Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, D.C., August 30, 1997.
“Recent Developments in State Legislatures.” Panel sponsored by the Center for the Study of Federalism, Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, San Francisco, CA, August 29, 1996.
“State Constitutional Law in the Third Century of American Federalism,” a public conference sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Center for the Study of Federalism, Philadelphia, PA, March 1987, co-directed by Ellis Katz and John Kincaid. Many of the papers from that conference were revised and published in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science in March 1988 on “State Constitutions in the Federal System” edited by John Kincaid.
“State Constitution-Making and American Constitutional Traditions,” a Liberty Fund Conference directed by Daniel J. Elazar, Philadelphia, PA, June 1 – 4, 1980. Revised conference papers appeared in Publius: The Journal of Federalism 12:1 (Winter 1982).
“Political Theories of American State Constitutions,” a research project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, 1980-1982, and co-directed by Daniel J. Elazar and John Kincaid.
State Court Planning Capabilities Project. In the late 1970s, the Center served as an evaluator of this project for the National Center for State Courts.
Research project on the Role of the States in the Urban Crisis (1978).
Convened Educational Seminar of Pennsylvania in late 1970s funded by Institute for Educational Leadership to study state education policy making and implementation. Project director Ellis Katz reported findings in Educational Policymaking, 1977-1978: A Snapshot from the States (1978) published by the Institute of Educational Leadership (IEL).
