ABSTRACT
Highest on the ladder of legal force are constitutions. The Constitution of the United States, indeed, declares that it, along with "the laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof “and” all Treaties made, under the authority of the United States," is the "supreme Law of the Land." State constitutions are themselves viewed as having the highest force of law within their states. Legislatures are representative democracy, but there is a form of direct democracy in which people vote directly. This is the referendum, which may result in a provision in a state constitution. The first level of federal courts, where trials occur, is the federal district courts, which rule in the first instance on matters concerning the US Constitution and federal statutes and disputes involving citizens of different states—the so-called "diversity jurisdiction." The state courts also have hierarchies that begin with trial courts. In cases where federal courts properly have jurisdiction, they often apply state law.
