Enshrining policy in a state’s constitution means that it is more likely to be rewritten as the makeup of the state legislature changes.

Just as the US has a founding document – The Constitution – the states themselves have their own constitutions. But what influences how and when these documents are altered? In new research, Adam Cayton compares the partisan makeup of state legislatures in every year since 1834 to the year in which a state’s constitution was enacted to see when they are replaced. He finds that a state’s constitution is more likely to be replaced when the constitution includes a large amount of policy content and the composition of the legislature has changed.