The Yale Law Journal

Gregory Ablavsky

Article

Empire States: The Coming of Dual Federalism

Gregory Ablavsky

In the standard account of federalism’s eighteenth-century origins, the Framers divided government power among two sovereigns to protect individual liberties. This Article offers an alternative history. It emphasizes that federalism was a form of centralization—a shift of authority from diffuse quas…

Article

Beyond the Indian Commerce Clause

Gregory Ablavsky

This Article uses unexamined historical sources to argues that the Indian Commerce Clause, open-ended when written, was a minor component of eighteenth-century constitutional thought. This history provides a more solid foundation for doctrinal principles derided as incoherent, and suggests more cabi…