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The government of each of the five permanently inhabited U.S. territories is modeled and organized in a like fashion. Each state is itself a sovereign entity, and as such, reserves the right to organize in any way (within the above stated parameter) deemed appropriate by its people. As a result, while the governments of the various states share ...
The law of most of the states is based on the common law of England; the notable exception is Louisiana, whose civil law is largely based upon French and Spanish law.The passage of time has led to state courts and legislatures expanding, overruling, or modifying the common law; as a result, the laws of any given state invariably differ from the laws of its sister states.
Each state's court of last resort has the last word on issues of state law and can be overruled only on issues of federal law by the U.S. Supreme Court. The structure of courts and the methods of selecting judges is determined by each state's Constitution or legislature.
State legislatures also approve budget for state government. They may establish government agencies, set their policies, and approve their budgets. For instance, a state legislature could establish an agency to manage environmental conservation efforts within that state. In some states, state legislators elect other officials, such as governor.
The Guarantee Clause of Article 4 of the Constitution states that "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government." These two provisions indicate states did not surrender their wide latitude to adopt a constitution, the fundamental documents of state law, when the U.S. Constitution was adopted.
The administrative state is a term used to describe the power that some government agencies have to write, judge, and enforce their own laws. Since it pertains to the structure and function of government, it is a frequent topic in political science , constitutional law , and public administration .
California, New York, and Texas use separate subject-specific codes (or in New York's case, "Consolidated Laws") which must be separately cited by name. Louisiana has both five subject-specific codes and a set of Revised Statutes divided into numbered titles.
In administrative law, rulemaking is the process that executive and independent agencies use to create, or promulgate, regulations.In general, legislatures first set broad policy mandates by passing statutes, then agencies create more detailed regulations through rulemaking.