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6 Harv. J. L. & Pub. Pol'y 73 (1982-1983)
Comment: The Forms of Article V

handle is hein.journals/hjlpp6 and id is 79 raw text is: COMMENT: THE FORMS OF ARTICLE V WALTER BERNS* I am not sanguine as Judge Brennan is about the convention that would be called. It is clear, and there is something interesting about this, that the 1787 convention was called by the people we know- as the Founders in order to put an end to fiscal irresponsibility on the part of the states. Judge Brennan, for very good reasons indeed, is proposing that we call another convention now to put an end to fiscal irresponsibility on the part of the national government. One can share those sentiments. As I say, however, I am not as san- guine as he is about the probable character of the convention. I will put it as bluntly as possible: I do not think there are any James Madisons in this room. Even if there were Madisons among us, the conditions under which they would be working would be much more difficult than the conditions that prevailed in Philadelphia in 1787. There would be a demand, on the part of Mike Wallace, for example, to bring his cameras in, and the delegates would be inclined to accede to his requests. We know this because we have seen embodiments of the dignity of their states readily obey his orders to get out of the way of his camera when he is interviewing someone else. My incli- nation would be to wring his neck, which, I suppose, is one reason why I am not a governor. Nor can I see anybody spreading a couple of inches of dirt over the cobblestones outside the conven- tion hall to reduce the noise level, thereby increasing the ability of the delegates inside to deliberate sensibly. Still, these are minor quibbles. Let me very quickly make some observations on the convention method of amending the Constitution. The one question that un- derlies all the others coming out of Article V is this: If there is to be a convention, whom would the delegates represent? That is the basic question. The provisions in Article V for amending the Con- stitution can best be understood as an attempt to honor the princi- ple of the sovereignty of the people and its corollary, the desirabil- * Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute; Professorial Lecturer, Georgetown University; Author, most recently, of FOR CAPITAL PUNISHMENT: CRIME AND THE MORAL- ITY OF THE DEATH PENALTY.

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