What if the Constitutional Convention Happened Today?

Thought I would share a discussion board comment I posted on one of my Master's Degree courses. The question had to do with what would be different if the Constitution Convention would have been held today rather than in 1787.

Had the Constitutional Convention occurred today rather than in 1787 the document we know today would have been drastically different as would have the convention itself. Initially, the convention would not have the secret meetings it enjoyed. The media would not have allowed it. There would have been reports on the happenings, individuals attending, and “exclusive” leaks from inside the convention. These reports would have ranged from revealing scandalous stories to publicly questioning the motives of the participants to discussing potential consequences over each proposed addition to or subtraction from the document. Wall to wall coverage and commentary of the meetings, at the very least, on the 24 hour cable news channels would have continued throughout the proceedings.

Special interest groups would not have allowed closed door hearings either. These groups would have fought for, and most likely obtained with help from their participant allies, access to the meetings and participants in order to lobby for the addition of language to further their desired causes. In addition, there would have been a massive public relation campaign by special interest groups to get the public to apply pressure to the delegates to add language or exceptions for specific causes or groups. This would, in turn, create a situation where the delegates would have to mount their own public relations campaign through press conferences, press releases, and other means to explain what they were doing and why in regards to the more controversial parts of the document.

Had there been closed door meetings, the participants would have had to deal with the unending litigation by various organizations suing to get access to the meetings and drafts of the documents. Had that failed, the losing organizations would have taken their case to the airwaves in an attempt to create enough pressure on the participants of the convention to relent and open up the convention to any curious soul that came along.

As for the delegates, there would be a great deal of pressure on them. The campaigns to become a delegate to the Convention would be extremely expensive with a great deal of pandering to various interest groups being quite evident, as seen in political campaigns of today. The delegates would most likely hold several town halls to get public input and defend their positions on the issues and document language. The delegates would also feel the need to have regular press conferences and public relations campaigns to garner support for their positions. Should there be any major disagreements between delegates, rather than hammer it out privately, the grievances and conflicts would be aired publicly as is done today with Congressional quarrels.

As for the document itself, the Constitution would have been much different than we know it today. It would have been a much longer and more specific document. We would not enjoy the broad language had the Constitution been created today. There would be many specific exceptions and detailed rights placed in the document making it much more unwieldy and complex. Many of the restrictions and limitations on the federal government currently enjoyed by Americans would not be included. Rather there would be detailed “rights” and “responsibilities” afforded to the federal government in allowing it to act in broad ways regarding regulation and the protection and dissemination of rights to the people themselves. The Constitution would become more of We the Government and less We the People. The breakdown of the branches of government and intended checks and balances would not be the same due to the constant push for supremacy of one governing body over another. On the other hand, The Bill of Rights would have been included initially rather than through amendments, although they would have been more lengthy, exception ridden, and detailed.

In the end, the convention would have been an open series of contentious meetings where the media and special interests would have had wide open access. There would be intensive special interest lobbying, continual press conferences, public quarrels among delegates, and wall to wall coverage by the media. The document itself would be a much more complex and specific document without the restrictions on government that we enjoy now.