It's your ConCon. What do you want to do with it? Learn - Discuss - Decide
Della's Question of the Week #2: Is it TIME for a Con Con?
This question is, in part, raised by the newly created ItsTimeHawaii.com advocacy group that is urging voters to vote "Yes" on the Con Con question on November 4, 2008.
Constitutional conventions were convened in 1950, 1968 and 1978 - at three very different times and for different reasons in our State's history. The 1950 Con Con was convened when Hawaii was a Territory to demonstrate to the rest of the United States that we were ready for Statehood. The purpose of the 1950 Con Con, therefore, was to form a Constitution and state government to prepare for admission.
In 1968, the Con Con was formed to deal with the issue of apportionment and to resolve the conflict between Hawaii's reapportionment formula and the U.S. Constitution. In 1978, the Con Con, dubbed the "People's Convention" arose during a time of great local and national political activism as evidenced by the Hawaiian Renaissance, the anti-development fervor of the 1970s, and the social and political turmoil that came out of the Vietnam War.
Some will say that 30 years is a long time since we've had the opportunity to comprehensively review our Constitution. These same advocates also say that the world has changed greatly since 1978. Others will say that the process of amending the Constitution should not be so easy to do, and no matter the length of time between conventions, a Con Con should not be undertaken unless there is something fatally flawed with the current Constitution.
So, what do you think? Please vote (poll will close on Sunday, May 25th) and comment on Question of the Week #2:
Constitutional conventions were convened in 1950, 1968 and 1978 - at three very different times and for different reasons in our State's history. The 1950 Con Con was convened when Hawaii was a Territory to demonstrate to the rest of the United States that we were ready for Statehood. The purpose of the 1950 Con Con, therefore, was to form a Constitution and state government to prepare for admission.
In 1968, the Con Con was formed to deal with the issue of apportionment and to resolve the conflict between Hawaii's reapportionment formula and the U.S. Constitution. In 1978, the Con Con, dubbed the "People's Convention" arose during a time of great local and national political activism as evidenced by the Hawaiian Renaissance, the anti-development fervor of the 1970s, and the social and political turmoil that came out of the Vietnam War.
Some will say that 30 years is a long time since we've had the opportunity to comprehensively review our Constitution. These same advocates also say that the world has changed greatly since 1978. Others will say that the process of amending the Constitution should not be so easy to do, and no matter the length of time between conventions, a Con Con should not be undertaken unless there is something fatally flawed with the current Constitution.
So, what do you think? Please vote (poll will close on Sunday, May 25th) and comment on Question of the Week #2:
Tags: poll, question of the week
2 Comments
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Comment by Della Au Belatti on May 21, 2008 at 11:29pm - I agree with you Kaunaloa on the effect of the word choice; however, this is precisely the way some anti-ConCon proponents are framing the question. I think you offer a good way of re-framing the question. The way I would reframe it is: Is there a problem with government in general that may benefit from a comprehensive examination and updating of our Constitution, the document that lays out the very foundations/structure of our government?
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fwiw Della, i would replace "fatally" with "significantly" -- if the constitution was "fatally" flawed, we wouldn't have a functioning state -- now, one can argue about how WELL Hawai'i is functioning but, the leg. just finished another full session, y'all will stand for regular re-election in a few months, etc. etc. ...
/and by changing that one word, the case for a concon gets strengthened further still in my mind ...