Lawrence Lessig is a Harvard Law Professor and author of Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress--and a Plan to Stop It. In his book Lessig proposes several ways to fix a government that appears incapable of fixing itself. His methods are based on those of the Founders who established a system in which the people can institute change (if they are willing to make the effort required to do so). What makes this concept pertinent to my blog is the historical aspect of his plan which calls for individual states to hold their own constitutional conventions in an effort to discuss and propose amendments that will wrangle the electoral and ruling process.

According to Lessig “Article V of the Constitution gives the states the power to demand that Congress ‘call a Convention for proposing amendments’ to the Constitution. Such amendments are only valid when ratified by 3/4ths of the states. Never in the history of the Nation has an Article V convention been called -- though we came close a century ago, when the call for a convention to make the senate elected was within one vote of the necessary two thirds. That was enough to spur Congress to reform itself, by proposing its own amendment and ending the need for a convention.” Lessig recently appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show where he explained this concept of constitutional conventions and their potential affect for change. Watch Video