America’s first state constitutions denied both executive veto and judicial review.

Evidence

The four constitutions ratified before the Declaration of Independence shared a common purpose and common features. All replaced royal rule with popular sovereignty and power centered in elected legislatures. Although each provided for a governor (or president) and courts, none of them entrusted either the executive with the sort of veto power formerly held by the king or the courts with judicial review of laws. Governmental balance came from having two legislative houses whose joint approval was needed to pass laws, with the members of both (unlike the British Parliament or most colonial assemblies) chosen directly or indirectly by voters. Checks on legislative power came from frequent elections, with all four constitutions providing for the annual election of members in the lower house. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 270

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

• XREF: Directly relevant to the course’s study of judicial review’s constitutional foundations and why courts had no review power until Marbury v. Madison.
• SHARE: Useful for a constitutional-law teaching colleague illustrating the radically legislature-centered design of early state republics.