West Virginia Law Review

The West Virginia State Constitution provides a review of the history and development of West Virginia's Constitution and an updated section-by-section analysis of its meaning. The State has had two constitutions, the original that was ratified in 1863 and the current one that was initially adopted in 1872. Both were rooted in the several Virginia Constitutions that preceded them but also included major reforms that emerged out of ongoing disputes between the western and eastern regions of antebellum Virginia. Amendments in the thirties and between 1968 and 1982 modernized the Constitution. This history is recounted in Part I of the book. This second edition provides section-by-section analysis that describes the origins and evolutions of the provisions and, more importantly, summarizes the interpretations given to them by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals over more than 150 years of the State's existence. The text reduces the case law to readily grasped concepts and cites the leading cases. A useful and convenient table of cases is provided, and a bibliography to facilitate more extensive or specific research is included. The Oxford Commentaries on the State Constitutions of the United States is an important series that reflects a renewed international interest in constitutional history and provides expert insight into each of the 50 state constitutions. Each volume in this innovative series contains a historical overview of the state's constitutional development, a section-by-section analysis of its current constitution, and a comprehensive guide to further research. Under the expert editorship of Professor G. Alan Tarr, Director of the Center on State Constitutional Studies at Rutgers University, this series provides essential reference tools for understanding state constitutional law. Books in the series can be purchased individually or as part of a complete set, giving readers unmatched access to these important political documents.

Includes court reports from the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.

West Virginia Politics and Government offers the only recent study of politics in the Mountain State. Combining new empirical information about political behavior with a close examination of the capacity of the state?s government, this second edition is a comprehensive and pointed study of the ability of the state?s government to respond to the needs of a largely rural and relatively low-income population. The authors discuss public demands on state government, the shaping of the political agenda by interest groups, elections and the role of political parties, and the influence of the federal government on the state?s political and administrative functions. The book also examines the nature of the state?s constitution and the role of governmental institutions, including the state legislature, the governor, and the state bureaucracy, in the making of public policy and the construction of a state budget, as well as the judiciary and local governments. The concluding chapter assesses the future of governance in the state.