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Publius: The Journal of Federalism 1996 26(3):127-140;
© 1996 by CSF Associates Inc.
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Splitting the Atom of Sovereignty: Term Limits, Inc.'s Conflicting Views of Popular Autonomy in a Federal Republic

Cynthia L. Cates
Towson State University

In his concurrence to U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thorton, Justice Anthony Kennedy described federalism as an attempt to "split the atom of sovereignty." As Term Limits demonstrates, the task is an incredibly difficult one, which deeply rends the Court. One block, currently composed of Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Baider Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer, view the source of constitutional authority as residing in the people of the nation as a whole; the other block, made up of Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas, argue that the constitutional wellspring is the people of each individual state. Justice Kennedy, now occupying the Court's middle ground, stresses the "dual character" of federal government. The debate is much morethan academic. Depending on how it is played out, the argument may have profound implications for the understanding and practice of U.S. federalism.


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