Does the World Really Belong to the Living? The Decline of the Constitutional Convention in New York and Other US States, 1776–2015

Snider, J. H.

doi:10.1086/691177

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…A one-unit change along the self-reported knowledge scale leads to a 0.134 decrease in the predicted probability of supporting a convention. In New York, opposed interest groups aired television ads predicting a convention could undermine protections for unionizing (Snider 2017). The data suggest this campaign was effective.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The convention referendum in 2014 received little attention during the campaign season. Groups supporting the convention, composed of government reform advocates, spent $39,701, while opponents, mostly unions and civil liberties groups, spent $141,800 (Snider 2017, 281). On Election Day, 2014, 55% of voters rejected the convention ballot measure.…”

Section: Study 2: Support For a Constitutional Convention In Rhode Ismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A convention call in these states must receive the support of a majority of those voting in the election, rather than a majority of those voting on the ballot measure itself. In other words, voter abstention is a de facto “no vote” on the referendum (Snider 2017).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Risk and Reform: Explaining Support for Constitutional Convention Referendums

Blake

Anson

2020

State Politics Policy Q.

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Scholars of comparative constitution-making and direct democracy agree that economic conditions affect public support for constitutional reform but disagree as to how. Prospect theory suggests both approaches may be correct, depending on the political and economic context in which voters operate. Fourteen states periodically ask their citizens whether to call a state constitutional convention, making this the oldest form of direct democracy in the United States. We test our theory in pre-election polls in two of these states and a survey experiment. According to the results, negative perceptions of economic and government performance increase support for conventions when voters view them as opportunities to correct problems. On the other hand, if a convention represents a chance to improve on an acceptable status quo, voters with positive performance evaluations become more supportive. Our findings contribute to the heuristics literature and inform normative debates over direct democracy and popular constitutionalism.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study 2: Support For a Constitutional Convention In Rhode Ismentioning

confidence: 99%

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Risk and Reform: Explaining Support for Constitutional Convention Referendums

Blake

Anson

2020

State Politics Policy Q.

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“…Institutional reform is reserved for elected officials that often have a stake in maintaining the current system and voters in recent decades have repeatedly voted against referendums to call constitutional conventions. Indeed, states have held 236 constitutional conventions since 1776, but none since 1992 (Snider 2017a). Among the fourteen states that require a referendum on whether to hold a constitutional convention every ten to twenty years, a convention has not been called since 1984 in Rhode Island (Dinan 2010), which covers thirty-one failed referendums in the remaining thirteen states.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A study of voting patterns across counties in five states during the 1960s highlighted the importance of referendum context and elite cues, but this analysis only examined aggregate patterns rather than individual attitudes (Goodman et al 1973). More recent studies also tend to focus on elites, including state elected officials and organized interests, as the primary determinants of the decline in state conventions (e.g., Dinan 2010; Kogan 2010; Snider 2017a). Yet ultimately the decisions to hold a constitutional convention in many states ultimately lie with the public.…”

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confidence: 99%

Conventional Wisdom? Analyzing Public Support for a State Constitutional Convention Referendum

Lewis

Collens

Cutler

2019

State and Local Government Review

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Although fourteen American states periodically hold automatic referendums on whether to hold a state constitutional convention, no state has approved a constitutional convention referendum since 1984. This study explores the puzzle of why voters would oppose an opportunity to broadly reform state government and the factors that underlie these attitudes. Analyses of two statewide surveys of registered voters in New York during the 2017 Constitutional Convention Referendum campaign reveal that campaign framing, elite cues, and instrumental concerns have led voters to take risk-averse positions in order to minimize potential losses that could result from a constitutional convention.

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Explaining the Prevalence of State Constitutional Conventions in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

Dinan

2022

J. Policy Hist.

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Although state constitutional conventions in the United States were once called frequently and brought about significant changes in governance, recent decades have seen little convention activity. I examine the contrast between the earlier regularity of conventions and their recent absence, but from a different perspective than is usually taken—not by explaining the recent absence but rather explaining the regularity from the 1770s through 1970s. I investigate why legislatures in prior eras agreed to call conventions and how legislators’ traditional opposition to conventions was overcome on a regular basis. After identifying the state constitutional conventions held in the US and setting aside conventions that were called to join, leave, or rejoin the Union or were instigated by institutions other than legislatures, I focus on 82 conventions called at the discretion of legislators and for reasons unrelated to joining, leaving, or rejoining the Union. I identify the issues and circumstances that were responsible for legislators’ willingness to overcome their traditional opposition to holding conventions, thereby contributing to a better understanding of both the challenges in calling conventions and the occasions when these challenges can be overcome.

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Does the World Really Belong to the Living? The Decline of the Constitutional Convention in New York and Other US States, 1776–2015

Cited by 6 publications

References 8 publications

Risk and Reform: Explaining Support for Constitutional Convention Referendums

Risk and Reform: Explaining Support for Constitutional Convention Referendums

Conventional Wisdom? Analyzing Public Support for a State Constitutional Convention Referendum

Explaining the Prevalence of State Constitutional Conventions in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

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