California's governing system is broken. To fix it, a new constitution is needed.
But how to rouse the interest and support to carry off the first California constitutional convention since 1879?
Here's an idea: Call a convention in which the delegates are only women.
It's not a crazy idea. Or even an unfair one.
California has had two constitutional conventions in its history. In 1849, and in 1878-79. Both were failures.
And both took place before suffrage, so all the delegates were men. The state has been living with the ill-considered work of those men for more than a century.
So why not give the women a turn?
U.S. & World
Posting the constitutional convention this way isn't just about historical fairness. It's also about politics and public relations.
The public is wary of a constitutional convention. And getting the public's attention to the idea -- and explaining the history and the need for a convention -- is difficult.
The all-women idea solves both. It provides a way to tell the story about California's poor constitutional history (in which men are the villains).
And since the majority of California voters are women, and a majority of voters would have to approve calling for a convention (and approve again the new constitution that a convention adopted), an all-women convention is good politics too.
