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62 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. Online 1 (2020-2021)

handle is hein.journals/willmaon62 and id is 1 raw text is: William & Mary Law Review Online VOLUME 62 No. 1, 2020 POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY AND THE DOCTRINE OF PLENARY STATE LEGISLATIVE POWER NINA NEFF* ABSTRACT Unlike the federal legislature, state legislatures possess plenary power, except insofar as they are limited by state constitutions. Though state plenary power is rooted in the legal authority of popular sovereignty, the doctrine of plenary state legislative power dulls democratic power by eliminating a potential right to local self- governance and by inducing courts to underenforce constitutional limits on state legislatures. These trends do not square with our democratic intuitions or with our desire to have a sense of efficacy, energy, and power in our own ability to influence the laws of our communities. This Article suggests that the doctrine of state legisla- tive plenary power as it is reflected in contemporary case law is inconsistent with historical conceptions of popular sovereignty that dominated intellectual life at our country's founding. It urges courts, scholars, and the public to give renewed attention to the intellectual * Nina Marie Neff is a judicial clerk for the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. Nina would like to thank Professor Miriam Seifter for her incisive comments on early drafts of this article. She would also like to thank her mother, Joanie Eppinga, for her always flawless edits. 1

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