Decision 1997: Constitutional Change in New York

Front Cover
SUNY Press, Mar 1, 1997 - Political Science - 534 pages
Few citizens know much about the constitution of their state. Some don't even know there is one. Yet state constitutions are basic instruments of our democracy. They structure state and local government and stipulate the rights of citizenship.

In New York State, as in others, the Constitution mandates a periodic vote on whether the state Constitution should be revised. In New York, a mandatory ballot question is put before the voters every twenty years--"Shall there be a convention to revise the constitution and amend the same?"

Seven months prior to the next such vote--which will be held on Election Day, November 4, 1997--the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government is publishing companion books on the New York State Constitution--one a sourcebook on constitutional change in New York, the other a rich history of the last constitutional convention held in New York State, that in 1967.

From inside the book

Contents

Why State Constitutions Matter
1
Richard Briffault
3
A Brief Overview Richard Briffault
21
Robert F Williams
29
Robert F Williams
45
Constitutional Structure and the Process of Government
53
Gerald Benjamin
57
Robert P Kerker
81
William R Ginsberg
317
Amendment and Revision Process Experience and Issues
329
Burton C Agata
331
Peter J Galie
351
Learning the Right Lessons From the Magnificent Failure Henrik N Dullea
367
Prepared by Michael Leu Owens
381
Gerald Benjamin and Melissa Cusa
385
The Delegate Selection Process
405

David I Wells
105
A Work in Progress Frederick Miller
127
Joseph F Zimmerman
147
Richard Briffault
155
A Framework for Analysis Richard Briffault
181
Jeffrey M Stonecash
193
Gerald Benjamin
217
Individual Liberties and Positive Rights
233
Burton C Agata
235
Burton C Agata
255
Robert D Stone
281
Gerald Benjamin with Melissa Cusa
301
The Delegate Selection Process Interim Report of the Temporary State Commission on Constitutional Revision
407
Burton C Agata
435
Richard Briffault
445
Constitutional Convention Some Alternatives Richard Briffault
473
Michael J Malbin
491
Temporary State Commission on Constitutional Revision
501
Commission Members
503
Commission Biographies
505
Commission Staff
511
Author Biographies
513
Index
519
Copyright

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About the author (1997)

The editors of this sourcebook on Decision 1997 are Gerald Benjamin, Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Political Science at the State University at New Paltz, and Henrik N. Dullea, Vice-president for University Relations at Cornell University. The material presented grew out of the work of the Temporary Commission on Constitutional Revision created in 1993 and chaired by Peter G. Goldmark Jr.

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