John Dinan
Professor and Department Chair
B.A. University of Virginia, 1990
M.A. University of Virginia, 1994
Ph.D. University of Virginia, 1996
Areas of Expertise: Federalism, State Constitutionalism, State Politics, American Political Development
John Dinan’s research focuses on state constitutionalism, federalism, and American political development. He is the author of several books, including State Constitutional Politics: Governing by Amendment in the American States and The American State Constitutional Tradition, and he writes an annual entry on state constitutional developments for The Book of the States. He is the editor of Publius: The Journal of Federalism and is a past chair of the Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations Section of the American Political Science Association. He received his PhD from the University of Virginia.
STATE CONSTITUTIONS (AMENDMENTS AND NUMBER AND LENGTH OF CONSTITUTIONS)
Number and length of state constitutions and proposed and adopted amendments to current state constitutions (updated after the 2024 election)
Number of proposed and adopted amendments to state constitutions (amendments considered in 2024)
BOOKS
Federalism: Core Documents (Ashbrook Press, 2023)
State Constitutional Politics: Governing by Amendment in the American States (University of Chicago Press, 2018)
The Virginia State Constitution, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2014)
The American State Constitutional Tradition (University Press of Kansas, 2006)
Keeping the People’s Liberties: Legislators, Citizens, and Judges as Guardians of Rights (University Press of Kansas, 1998)
ARTICLES (single-authored)
“The Constitutional Politics of Abortion Policy after Dobbs: State Courts, Constitutions, and Lawmaking,” Montana Law Review 84 (2023): 27-73
“Changing the Rules for Direct Democracy in the 21st Century in Response to Animal Welfare, Marijuana, Minimum Wage, Medicaid, Elections, and Gambling Initiatives,” Nebraska Law Review 101 (2022): 40-70
“Explaining the Prevalence of State Constitutional Conventions in the 19th and 20th Centuries,” Journal of Policy History 34 (Fall 2022): 297-335
“The Unconstitutional Constitutional Amendment Doctrine in the American States: State Court Review of State Constitutional Amendments,” Rutgers Law Review 72 (Summer 2020) 983-1020
“The Institutionalization of State Resistance to Federal Directives in the 21st Century,” The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics 18 (2020): 3-23
“The U.S. Supreme Court and Federalism in the Twenty-first Century,” State and Local Government Review 49 (September 2017): 215-228
“Twenty-first Century Debates and Developments Regarding the Design of State Constitutional Amendment Processes,” Arkansas Law Review 69 (2016): 283-315
“State Constitutional Amendments and American Constitutionalism,” Oklahoma City University Law Review 41 (Spring 2016): 27-50
“State Constitutional Initiative Processes and Governance in the Twenty-first Century,” Chapman Law Review 19 (Winter 2016): 61-108
“Policy Provisions in State Constitutions: The Standards and Practice of State Constitution-making in the Post-Baker v. Carr Era,” Wayne Law Review 60, 1 (2014): 155-201
“Implementing Health Reform: Intergovernmental Bargaining and the Affordable Care Act” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 44 (Summer 2014): 399-425
“State Constitutional Amendments and Individual Rights in the Twenty-First Century” Albany Law Review 76, 4 (2013): 2105-2140
“Shaping Health Reform: State Government Influence in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 41 (Summer 2011): 395-420
“State Constitutional Amendment Processes and the Safeguards of American Federalism,” Penn State Law Review 115 (Spring 2011): 1007-1034
“Contemporary Assertions of State Sovereignty and the Safeguards of American Federalism,” Albany Law Review 74, 4 (2011): 1637-1669
“The Political Dynamics of Mandatory State Constitutional Convention Referendums: Lessons from the 2000s Regarding Obstacles and Pathways to their Passage,” Montana Law Review 71 (Summer 2010): 395-432
“Accounting for Success and Failure of Southern State Constitutional Reform, 1978-2008,” Charleston Law Review 3 (Spring 2009): 483-524
“Patterns of Subnational Constitutionalism in Federal Countries,” Rutgers Law Journal, 39 (Summer 2008): 837-861
“The State of American Federalism, 2007-2008: Resurgent State Influence in the National Policy Process and Continued State Innovation,” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 38 (Summer 2008): 381-415
“The Adoption of Criminal Disenfranchisement Provisions in the U.S.: Lessons from the State Constitutional Convention Debates,” Journal of Policy History 19 (Fall 2007): 282-312
“Court-Constraining Amendments and the State Constitutional Tradition” Rutgers Law Journal 38 (Summer 2007): 983-1039
“The Meaning of State Constitutional Education Clauses: Evidence from the Constitutional Convention Debates,” Albany Law Review 70, 3 (2007): 927-981
“Strengthening the Political Safeguards of Federalism: The Fate of Recent Federalism Legislation in the U.S. Congress,” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 34 (Summer 2004): 55-83
“Consequences of the Rehnquist Court’s Federalism Decisions for Congressional Lawmaking,” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 34 (Spring 2004): 39-67
“The Pardon Power and the American State Constitutional Tradition,” Polity 35 (April 2003): 389-418
“Congressional Responses to the Rehnquist Court’s Federalism Decisions,” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 32 (Summer 2002): 1-24
“Rights and the Political Process: Physician-Assisted Suicide in the Aftermath of Washington v. Glucksberg,” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 31 (Fall 2001): 1-21
“‘The Earth Belongs Always to the Living Generation’: The Development of State Constitutional Amendment and Revision Procedures,” Review of Politics 62 (Fall 2000): 645-674
“The State Constitutional Tradition and the Formation of Virtuous Citizens,” Temple Law Review 72 (Fall 1999): 619-672
“Framing a ‘People’s Government’: State Constitution Making in the Progressive Era,” Rutgers Law Journal 30 (Summer 1999): 933-985
“The Rehnquist Court’s Federalism Decisions in Perspective,” Journal of Law & Politics 15 (Spring 1999): 127-194
“State Government Influence in the National Policy Process: Lessons from the 104th Congress,” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 27 (Spring 1997): 129-142
“Can State Courts Produce Social Reform? School Finance Equalization in Kentucky, Texas, and New Jersey,” Southeastern Political Review 24 (September 1996): 431-450
ARTICLES (co-authored)
John Dinan and Jac C. Heckelman, “The Roots of Direct Democracy in the United States: South Dakota’s 1898 Referendum Creating the First Statewide Initiative Process,” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 24 (December 2024): 32-46
Jac Heckelman and John Dinan, “Don’t You be My Neighbor: Support for Racial-Exclusion Constitutional Provisions in Mid-19th Century Indiana and Illinois” American Politics Research 49 (September 2021): 504-516
John Dinan and Jac Heckelman, “Support for Progressive Reforms: Evidence from California’s 1911 Referenda,” Journal of Interdisciplinary History 51 (Autumn 2020): 209-234
John Dinan and Jac Heckelman, “Stability and Contingency in Federalism Preferences,” Public Administration Review 80 (March 2020): 234-243
John Dinan and Jac Heckelman, “Voting on prohibition: Disentangling preferences on alcohol and decentralization,” Social Science History 43 (Spring 2019): 113-130
John Dinan and Jac Heckelman, “Support for Repealing Prohibition: An Analysis of State-Wide Referenda on Ratifying the 21st Amendment” Social Science Quarterly 95 (September 2014): 636-651
John Dinan and Jac Heckelman, “Convergence and Divergence in State Political Behavior, 1970-2004,” Social Science Journal 47 (September 2010): 689-698
John Dinan and Shama Gamkhar, “The State of American Federalism 2008-2009: The Presidential Election, the Economic Downturn, and the Consequences for Federalism,” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 39 (Summer 2009): 369-407
Tim Conlan and John Dinan, “Federalism, the Bush Administration, and the Transformation of American Conservatism,” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 37 (Summer 2007): 279-303
Jac C. Heckelman and John Dinan, “Voting on Voting with the Feet: A Cross-County Analysis of the Tennessee Popular Referenda to Secede from the Union,” Constitutional Political Economy 18 (June 2007): 83-97
John Dinan and Dale Krane, “The State of American Federalism 2005: Federalism Resurfaces in the Political Debate,” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 36 (Summer 2006): 327-374
John Dinan and Jac C. Heckelman, “The Anti-Tobacco Movement in the Progressive Era: A Case Study of Direct Democracy in Oregon,” Explorations in Economic History 42 (October 2005): 529-546
BOOK CHAPTERS
“Subnational Constitutions: A Research Agenda,” in John Kincaid, ed., A Research Agenda for Federalism Studies (Edward Elgar, 2019): 50-60
“The Supreme Court and the Affordable Care Act: The Consequences of the NFIB v. Sebelius decision for Health Care Policy,” in Christopher P. Banks, ed., Controversies in American Federalism and Public Policy (Routledge, 2018): 75-92
“State Constitutionalism” in Mark Tushnet, Mark A. Graber, and Sanford Levinson, eds., Oxford Handbook of the United State Constitution (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015): 863-886
“Relations Between State and National Governments,” in Donald Haider-Markel, ed., Oxford Handbook of State and Local Government (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014): 7-26
“The Past, Present, and Future Role of State Constitutions,” in Richard Niemi and Joshua Dyck, eds., Guide to State Politics and Policy (Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2014): 19-32
“The Consequences of Drafting Constitutions for Constituent States in Federal Countries,” in Michel Seymour, ed., Multinational Federalism: Problems and Prospects (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012): 231-244
“State Constitutions and American Political Development,” in Michael Burgess and G. Alan Tarr, eds., Constitutional Dynamics in Federal Systems: Sub-national Perspectives (Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 2012): 43-60
“School Finance Litigation: The Third Wave Recedes,” in Martin West and Joshua Dunn, eds., From Schoolhouse to Courthouse: The Judiciary’s Role in American Education (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2009): 96-120
“The Development of the Virginia Constitution,” in George E. Connor and Christopher W. Hammons, eds., The Constitutionalism of American States (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2008): 384-400
“United States of America,” in Katy Le Roy and Cheryl Saunders, ed., Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Governance in Federal Countries (Toronto: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2006): 316-343
POL 113 American Government and Politics
Several questions guide our study of American government and politics in this course: How well is a Constitution written in the late 18th century functioning in the early 21st century? How have patterns of political participation evolved, and to what extent do recent elections reflect a continuation of or departure from these patterns? How well is the U.S. electoral system performing, and what would be the consequences of adopting various proposed reforms? What tools and approaches are available to presidents for securing passage of their policy initiatives, and which of these tools and approaches have been most effective? To what extent is the U.S. policy-making process producing legislation in the public interest? What role has the Supreme Court played in interpreting various constitutional provisions, and what is the proper judicial role in resolving controversial questions concerning the definition and extent of civil rights and liberties?
POL 211 Political Parties, Voters, and Elections
As the course title indicates, we are interested in examining U.S. political parties, voters, and elections. Regarding parties: we are concerned with tracing their evolving role in the American political system and considering the main functions they perform and the groups and institutions that are increasingly performing these functions alongside of them or in their place. Regarding voter participation and behavior: we are interested in determining which factors are associated with high levels of voter turnout and explaining voter decision-making. Regarding elections: we seek to explain the outcomes of presidential and congressional elections, both in the nominating phase and general election.
POL 218 Congress and Policy Making
Of the various American political institutions, Congress has traditionally been the target of the most criticism. One of our goals in this course will be to analyze Congress with any eye toward assessing the performance of the institution and its members. We are concerned with determining how well members represent their constituents, whether various institutional rules and arrangements promote adequate deliberation, and to what extent the policy process produces legislation consonant with the public interest.
POL 221 State Politics
Political scientists are drawn to study state politics for various reasons. First, state political institutions differ from federal institutions in important respects, and political scientists are led in each instance to assess and compare the operation of the distinctive state approaches and the federal approach. Political scientists also seek to draw lessons from the variety of approaches within the state political tradition. The diversity of state approaches presents opportunities not only for explanation (why do the states differ?), but also evaluation (what are the advantages and disadvantages of the various state approaches?). Finally, states bear significant responsibility for various aspects of domest policy; but the federal government has assumed greater responsibilities and imposed increasing restrictions on state policy-making. A comprehensive study of U.S. policy-making requires that attention be paid to the important role played by state governments as well as the complex and evolving relationship between state and federal governments.