A Neo-Federalist Analysis of Federal Question Jurisdiction.

The article summarizes the paper of Paul Mishkin's "The Federal Question in the District Courts," which transformed the discernment of the most important area of jurisdiction in cases arising under the Constitution and laws of the U.S. His paper covers five topics: the Article III and statutory clauses conferring federal question jurisdiction; the Court's differing interpretations of these two provisions; its criteria for determining whether a case arises under federal law; the well-pleaded complaint rule; and protective jurisdiction. The article then discusses later judicial and scholarly developments regarding jurisdiction arising under federal law. It employs a neo-federalist methodology to revisit Mishkin's thesis and propose changes to it.