Converting the Texts of the U.S. State Constitutions into Quantifiable Data: A Text Analytics Project

I compiled this dataset for my dissertation, "Converting the Texts of the U.S. State Constitutions into Quantifiable Data: A Text Analytics Project" (Clouse 2019).

For this project, I converted the texts of two-hundred and three historical and current U.S. state constitutions into quantifiable data, using methods of categorization. Each word of constitutional text was placed into one of thirty-two distinct topical categories, based on the subject matter of the text. For each state constitution, the number of words the constitution devotes to the topical category was entered into the dataset under the appropriate category heading.

The state constitutions represented in the data are:

• The original texts of 153 historical state constitutions (unamended)
• The texts of the current 50 state constitutions (with amendments/revisions made through July 2017)
  

The thirty-two topical categories are:
Preamble
State Boundaries
Declaration of Rights
Religion
Discrimination
Private Property
Suffrage & Elections
People's Initiative
Representation & Apportionment
Legislative
Executive
Judicial
Militia
General Operations
Education
Taxation & Finance
Business & Corporations
Railroads & Canals
Banking
Social Regulations
Public Goods
Agriculture
Natural Resources & Environment
Entitlements
Public Institutions
State Lands
State Powers
Local Government
Federal Government
Amendment Process
Schedule
Postscript