Petition for a Constitutional Convention

[Former President tack50]

Ok, I will come forward to 100% oppose this. There is absolutely 0 reason to have a constitutional convention right now; none whatsoever. Our system of government is working very well at the moment, and any changes are minor enough that they can be passed by Congress.

I was even tempted to call out Windjammer on that during his campaign and the only reason I didn't do it was partisan concerns (making my party's nominee look bad), so I will call him out now, after the election

Presumably, the objective of a new Constitutional Convention would be to write a new constitution from scratch, or alternatively; to at least do a comprehensive rewrite of many sections. Now, I am sure Yankee can and will correct me on this, but let's look at why Atlasia has changed constitutions in the past:

1st to 2nd: The 1st constitution was a mess so awful that it lasted for less than 1 year. It was so bad that it has its own wiki page detailing why it was so bad

2nd to 3rd:

3rd to 4th: As a (successful) attempt to revive a game that was in the middle of an existencial crisis.

I will say that I am not opposed to any and every reform. I am in support of a return to unicameralism for instance. In my time in Congress I also proposed amendments to allow for the recall of Senators, or to increase direct democracy by allowing citizen referendums. And I am sure there are other reforms I could definitely support. To fix Atlasia's uncompetitiveness problem I even proposed the radical idea of abolishing party registration and having all non-partisan elections (a change that didn't even require a constitutional amendment!)

However what I will oppose 100% (at least for now) is a Constitutional Convention. The Fourth Constitution is working perfectly fine and is not a disaster like the First Constitution (or in more recent times, the First Constititution of Fremont). And Atlasia is not facing an existencial crisis like it faced in 2014-15. (I am not sure why the 2nd constitution was changed though, but I doubt the situation is comparable either)

You can argue perhaps that Atlasia is broken electorally in some ways even if that is a take I disagree with at the moment (it has not been true since August 2020); but the system of government itself is working 100% as intended and without problems. At most you can argue the Senate as currently designed is a left wing gerrymander but knowing Yankee I doubt the Federalist party is in favour of Senate abolition

I will not be signing this; and if this somehow goes through, I will consider running for delegate of the Constitutional Convention with the aim to keep "The Union as it is, the Constitution as it is".

[Former President tack50]

However what I will oppose 100% (at least for now) is a Constitutional Convention. The Fourth Constitution is working perfectly fine and is not a disaster like the First Constitution (or in more recent times, the First Constititution of Fremont). And Atlasia is not facing an existencial crisis like it faced in 2014-15. (I am not sure why the 2nd constitution was changed though, but I doubt the situation is comparable either)

IF you mean 2nd Constitution of Atlasia, it had flaws in its wording and structure even to do what it was designed to do if that makes sense. It had also been amended like 40 times IIRC in the space of two plus years.

After attempts at a massive overhaul failed in 2009 with the Third Con-Con, the Fourth Con-con convened in 2010 to write the third constitution with Purple State and Marokai Blue as the driving forces behind it. I think it started before PS became President though I cannot recall for sure and he barely finished before he left office. The Senate had to extend its mandate for instance.


PS Summarizing it:
https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=126154.msg2685114#msg2685114

Ok, so then we have 2 changes because the constitution was an arcane mess that not many were able to understand and 1 in a big game reform attempt during the game's darkest hour. Neither of which seem relatable to me today.

I will say that in terms of time, we are probably overdue for one, it seems to be a trend to have an overhaul of some sort every 5-6 years? (though 2nd to 3rd seems more about clarfication than actual impactful changes. Dropping FPTP districts seems like a more meaningful change to me for instance)

Therefore I do not think that a constitutional convention is a good thing for now. Atlasia is not in an existencial crisis and our constitution is an actually well written document. If you want to blame someone for not needing a ConCon right now, blame Truman and the others who were involved in writing the Fourth Constitution for writing a good document