Protecting Republican Government from itself: The Guarantee Clause of Article IV, Section 4
Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.
Introduction: In an important, relatively recent Supreme Court case, New York v. United States, the Court entertained review of legislation under a constitutional clause that had lain mostly dormant since the Founding, Article IV, Section 4. The guarantee of republican government has an incredible allure, potentially conjuring all the democratic values we hold dear. But no single constitutional provision can be so all-encompassing, or the structure of the document becomes obscured. My purpose in this paper is to ask: what is the specific function of the Guarantee Clause? The Founders clearly intended the federal government to take some action in response to some situation in order to prevent some evil. What problem and what response did they envision?
