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Basic Constitutional Concepts
Obligations of the National Government to the States
This provision, sometimes known as ‘‘the federalism article,’’ requires
the national government to guarantee a republican form of government
to every State, to protect the States against invasion, and, upon request,
to protect them against domestic violence. The term ‘‘republican government’’ is not defined in the Constitution, but the Framers meant a representative form of government, as distinguished from a direct democracy or monarchy. This guarantee shows the high regard the Framers
had for representative government and their concern, almost a decade
after the Revolution, that the people might again wish to be governed
by a monarch.
The Constitution of 1787 imposes no similar obligation on the States
to establish a written constitution or a bill of rights, or to protect civil liberties, except those specified in Article I, Section 10. Federal involvement
in civil liberties disputes between a State and its citizens did not commence until the adoption of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth
Amendments (the ‘‘Reconstruction Amendments’’) after the Civil War.
Even then, the extent of Federal activity was limited primarily to protecting economic rights and the rights of the newly freed slaves. Not until the mid-twentieth century did the Federal government, principally
through the courts, become embroiled in civil liberties disputes between
a State and its citizens involving such rights as freedom of speech and
religion. Ironically, the Supreme Court has never interpreted the meaning of ‘‘republican government’’ and has taken the position that it is up
to Congress to decide whether a particular State government is ‘‘republican’’ in character. Nor has Congress offered a definitive interpretation;
and the Guarantee Clause, as it is known, is largely dormant.
Section 3 of Article IV places additional obligations upon the Federal
government in the interest of State sovereignty. It provides that a new
State cannot be created from a pre-existing State, from a combination of
States, or from parts of States, unless the legislatures of the States concerned and also Congress give their consent. Five States—Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, Maine, and West Virginia—have been formed within
the jurisdiction of other States and with the requisite consent. This provision also establishes what is called the ‘‘doctrine of equal footing,’’ the