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Toward a new constitutional convention...

By Jack M. Balkin

in New York. Today's Times has a story aptly titled "As Voter Disgust with Albany Rises, So Do Calls for a New Constitution." It notes that quite a few altogether respectable New Yorkers, both Democrats and Republicans, are suggesting that the cure for New York's almost terminal dysfunctionality will include a new constitution. Opponents focus, among other things, on the problems of selecting a convention. How does one prevent it from falling into the control either of existing party hacks or single-issue zealots? There is, actually, a remarkably easy answer: Return to Athens and select the convention by lottery, as we do juries. Jim Fishkin has a forthcoming book, When the People Speak, detailing his experiences around the world running "deliberative polls," which rely on the lottery principle of selection. Interestingly enough, the same discussion is going on in another roaringly dysfunctional state, where the state constitution is even more directly implicated in its breakdown--I am referring, of course, to California. There are calls not only for a convention--the most recent endorsement was by the LA Times,, but also advocates of lottery selection. Indeed, Rick Herzberg has an interesting discussion in the current New Yorker about the California debates. [I learned about the LA Times endorsement from an interesting blog by Joe Matthews, a long-time reporter on California politics. It looks like an essential site for anyone who wants to follow the politics, including the constitutional politics, of the Golden State.]

Now, if only someone would begin to connect the dots with regard to our national Constitution....

Though, as the debates in both California and New York reveal, the ultimate problem may not really be generating disgust with the constitution (though that is much, much harder with the US Constitution, given our ridiculous sacralization of a human, all-too-human document), but, rather, generating any remaining faith in the capacity of "we the people" actually to become active agents of our own destiny. We're trying to bring "democracy" to Afghanistan, but how many people really believe that the United States is ready for a 21st century democracy itself? Unfortunately, I suspect that the main proponents of radical democracy these days are right-wing crypto-fascists. These are not happy times (however much we should all rejoice that Barack Obama stomped John McCain and Sarah Palin in the election).

Full post as published by Balkinization on August 24, 2009 (boomark / email).