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The United States Constitution creates a federal system that leaves a great deal of power in the hands of the individual states. Each year, the states collectively adopt nearly 20,000 new laws, an average of 400 per state, while the U.S. Congress in recent years has on average enacted hardly more than 150 new statutes. In terms of spending, state and local governments collectively spent $3 trillion dollars last year–almost as much as the federal government. The states are especially important in the realms of education, health care, environmental policy and transportation. In all these areas, to be sure, the states share power with the federal government but possess considerable discretionary authority. Despite the importance of the states, most Americans know little about them. Hardly anyone knows much about their state’s executive branch or legislature. In a recent survey, most Americans couldn’t say whether their state had a constitution (they all do). In this seminar we will explore some of the mysteries of state politics. Each student will develop a research project designed to discover something about the states that no one else knows.