Introduction to the 2018 Virgin Constitutional Convention Briefly, what is the Virgin Constitutional Convention? A real convention is a closeted affair with local delegates protecting their accidental borders, ancient customs and power centers. Our Virgin model posits a fictional nation (Franklin21) which has tasked the world’s top minds to create a model fit for modern concepts of rational, popular government. Designed to spur public dialogue, it’s hoped that international media will follow along as on-line delegates debate subjects like to how to choose and limit representatives, how to maximize substantive discourse while minimizing pandering and methods for preventing control of government by the rich. It’s hoped that concepts of new institutions and customs will help today’s struggling nations. Why does the world need a successor to Western or liberal democracy? When the Soviet Union fell, there was hope that Russia would assume a nurturing popular system. When
Public faith in US government has plummeted in the past sixty years. There are three common theories for the "failure" of the 1787 Constitution. One says that it was constructed for a different planet. Nine out of ten lived on small farms. Education was for the privileged and communications difficult. Not only did early presidents not "run" for office, they didn't even give campaign speeches. A second view: The 20 th century gamed the 18 th . Party machines, lobbyists writing the actual language of bills and vast armies of election mechanics trained in the fine arts of propaganda & pander – all combined to null Founder assumptions. A third take is that the founding plan steered clear of the defining center – left intact were the vagaries of the independent-minded states. As Thomas Paine hammered in his Rights of Man , the key to a successful system lies in its treatment of the individual. Is the citizen a key actor or is he or sh