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Summary
Summary
People are fed up with politics in this country and with good reason. Under our Constitution, we are supposed to be able to throw out elected officials who care more about contributors and lobbyists than the citizens they represent. Yet incumbents are able to raise so much campaign money it is almost impossible to defeat them.
Reviews (2)
Booklist Review
A University of Kentucky professor of journalism and telecommunications, Labunski holds degrees in political science and law and worked in radio and television news for 10 years. His call for a constitutional convention is based on current political woes--the campaign finance mess, low voter turnout, and so forth--and on a belief that existing institutions (state and federal legislatures and the courts) cannot make the kinds of changes needed to restore American democracy. Labunski proposes local, state, and national meetings to discuss potential amendments and effective use of the Internet and other media to involve Americans in active discussion. He proposes and thoroughly discusses eight amendments: campaign finance reform; equal rights; a crime victims' bill of rights; congressional term changes, including term limits; direct election of the president and vice president; protecting federal courts' jurisdiction; changing the Constitution's amendment process; and repealing the Second Amendment. Even readers turned off by the concept will find useful information in Labunski's defense of his radical proposal. --Mary Carroll
Choice Review
Labunski, a professor at Kentucky's School of Journalism and Telecommunications, a holder of a JD degree, and the author of two previous books and many law review articles, is eminently qualified to provide this written call for a second constitutional convention. Pointing to the little-known Article V of the US Constitution, the author notes that the American people have the right to call for a new constitutional convention, and he argues compellingly that such a convention is necessary and easy to organize through use of the Internet. Among other things Labunski discusses ten possible constitutional amendments that he thinks the American people should consider, such as a campaign reform amendment intended to reduce the impact of big money on the electoral process and an amendment that would replace the Electoral College with direct election of the president. The book contains some of the same themes as Charles Lewis's The Buying of Congress (1998) and Ralph Nader and Wesley J. Smith's No Contest: Corporate Lawyers and the Perversion of Justice in America (CH, Mar'97). The book is well-written, easy to follow, and contains a useful index. Recommended for general readers and undergraduate students. R. A. Carp; University of Houston
Table of Contents
Foreword | p. xi |
Introduction | p. 1 |
Part I | |
Chapter 1 Why A Second Constitutional Convention is Needed | p. 11 |
Chapter 2 The Birth of Article V: Amending the Constitution | p. 57 |
Chapter 3 The Role of Courts in "Amending" the Constitution: Why A Second Convention Must Do What Judges Cannot | p. 111 |
Part II | |
Chapter 4 The Road to Amending the Constitution: The Local and Statewide Meetings, and the National "Preconvention" | p. 179 |
Chapter 5 The Internet, Politics, and the Constitution | p. 229 |
Chapter 6 The Legal Consequences of a Second Convention: The Role of the Elected Branches and the Courts | p. 273 |
Part III Proposed Constitutional Amendments | |
Chapter 7 Campaign Finance Reform Amendment | p. 293 |
Chapter 8 The Equal Rights Amendment | p. 315 |
Chapter 9 A Crime Victims' Bill of Rights Amendment | p. 337 |
Chapter 10 Congressional Term Limits; Reducing Senate Terms; Changing the Majority Required for Approval of Treaties | p. 351 |
Chapter 11 Abolition of the Electoral College | p. 365 |
Chapter 12 Protecting the Jurisdiction of the Federal Courts | p. 377 |
Chapter 13 Changing How the Constitution is Amended | p. 387 |
Chapter 14 Repealing the Second Amendment | p. 399 |
Part IV | |
Chapter 15 If A Second Convention is Never Held | p. 423 |
Notes | |
Introduction | p. 445 |
Chapter 1 | p. 450 |
Chapter 2 | p. 470 |
Chapter 3 | p. 482 |
Chapter 4 | p. 498 |
Chapter 5 | p. 501 |
Chapter 6 | p. 514 |
Chapter 7 | p. 517 |
Chapter 8 | p. 522 |
Chapter 9 | p. 526 |
Chapter 10 | p. 529 |
Chapter 11 | p. 531 |
Chapter 12 | p. 533 |
Chapter 13 | p. 535 |
Chapter 14 | p. 538 |
Chapter 15 | p. 545 |
Appendix | |
The Constitution of the United States | p. 549 |
Index | p. 567 |
About the Author | p. 579 |