Guaranteed Republics

The U.S. Constitution requires the federal government to “guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government.” But since 1849, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that the Guarantee Clause . . . does pretty much nothing at all.

As it turns out, guaranteeing our republics is our job.

I’m Quinn Yeargain, an Assistant Professor of Law at the Widener University Commonwealth Law School. My specialty is state constitutional law—but really, I’m interested in all aspects of state government. I’ve written on prosecutors, election law, legislative vacancies, institutional development, and more.

I frequently post Twitter threads that explore different niche legal developments. I love the reach that many of my threads are able to get, and the opportunity to make the law accessible to the public is something I really treasure.

So I’ve launched Guaranteed Republics, a newsletter that focuses on state-level institutional development. If you follow (or are interested in) state elections and democracy, I hope that you’ll follow along. My goal is to post regularly—by which I mean once a week or so—with a longer-form post on something that’s recently attracted my interest. (I also take suggestions, so feel free to reach out if you have a question you’d like answered.)