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Fall 2019

ISSN 0890-913X

Volume 34, Number 3

Categories: Fall 2019 | Constitutions | Social capital

Constitutions and Social Trust: An Analysis of the US States

David Ahnen, Ellucian

Peter T, Calcagno, College of Charleston

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ConstitutionsandSocialTrust:AnAnalysisoftheUSStatesDavidAhnenEllucianTheJournalofPrivateEnterprise34(3),2019,11–33PeterT.CalcagnoCollegeofCharleston______________________________________________________AbstractTheliteratureonsocialcapitalarguesthathightrustlendsitselftoshortercontracts.Theliteraturehasextendedthislogictoconstitutions.Whilescholarshaveexaminedconstitutionalverbosityattheinternationallevel,theyhaveyettoexaminetherelationshipbetweenconstitutionalverbosity,constitutionalendurance,andsocialcapitalatthesubnationallevel.Usingstate-leveldatafrom2002through2015,weexaminetherelationshipbetweensocialcapitalandstateconstitutions.Wefindweakevidencethatwhentrustislow,constitutionsareincreasinglyverbose.Wefindstrongerevidencethatsocialtrustexplainsstateconstitutions’endurance.______________________________________________________JELCodes:K40,Z13Keywords:constitutions,constitutionalverbosity,constitutionalgarrulity,constitutionalendurance,socialcapital,socialtrustI.IntroductionSocietieswithanemicsocialcapitaltendtodraftlongernationalconstitutionsthansocietieswithmorerobustsocialcapitalandsocialtrust(BjørnskovandVoigt2014).Theideaisthatalackofsocialtrust—“authorityrelations,relationsoftrustandconsensualallocationsofrightswhichestablishnorms”(Coleman1988)—requirespoliticalandcommercialcontractstobemorespecific.WeaskifthislogicextendstosubnationalpolitiesintheUnitedStates.Allfiftystateshaveconstitutions,whichvarysubstantiallyinlength.Vermonthastheshortestconstitutionofanystateatabout8,500words.Alabama’sconstitution,atmorethan380,000words,isthelongestofanygovernmentworldwide.11Alabama’sconstitutionissubstantiallylongerthananyotherstate’sbecauseitincludeslocalconstitutionalamendments.

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Title	Constitutions and Social Trust: An Analysis of the US States
Authors/Creators:	David Ahnen, Ellucian Peter T, Calcagno, College of Charleston
Year:	2019
Volume:	34
Number:	3
Pages:	11 - 33
Publisher:	The Association of Private Enterprise Education
ISSN:	0890-913X
Document Type:	Articles
Keywords:	constitutions, constitutional verbosity, constitutional garrulity, constitutional endurance, social capital, social trust

Citation:
Ahnen, David; Calcagno, Peter T, / 2019. "Constitutions and Social Trust: An Analysis of the US States." The Journal of Private Enterprise, 34(3): 11-33.