The 2010 Stanford Law Review Symposium, “State Constitutions,” examines a critical area of law that has been inadequately addressed in legal literature. The Articles presented in this Issue address the intersection of state constitutional rights and the common law, the need for a state-focused approach to understanding state constitutional law, develop a working theory of state constitutions, and discuss the strategic wisdom of the plaintiffs in the case challenging California’s Proposition 8 (banning same-sex marriage) having brought a federal constitutional challenge. The Note analyzes state government from an original understanding of the federal Guarantee Clause.