Political Scientist Will Present Lecture on Reforming the U.S. Constitution
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 24, 2006
Kathleen McPartland
530-898-4260
Political Scientist Will Present Lecture on Reforming the U.S. Constitution
Alan Gibson, professor in the Department of Political Science, California State University, Chico, will present "It IS Broken, but No One Wants to Fix It: A Call for Reform of the United States Constitution" on Thursday, Nov. 2, at 7 pm in Ayres 120. His talk is part of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences Faculty Colloquium Series.
The talk is free and open to the public. There will be a reception in the faculty/staff lounge in Selvester's following his presentation.
Professor Gibson just returned to Chico this fall after a year's sabbatical with the James Madison Program for American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. While there, he completed a new book, "Interpreting the Founding: Guide to the Enduring Debates Over the Origins and Foundations of the American Republic," published by the University Press of Kansas as part of the American Political Thought Series.
Gibson has a second book due out in April 2007, "Understanding the Founding: The Crucial Questions," which will be part of the same series.
"Americans worship their Constitution and see it as the cornerstone of their system of representative democracy. Few Americans believe that the Constitution could be the source of substantial inequities or that it might contain irrational and indefensible provisions," said Gibson. "I believe that we need to reform the United States Constitution."
Gibson argues that equal representation of all states in the Senate, the Electoral College and the amending process violate one of Americans' most cherished democratic principles: political equality. He will discuss the Electoral College as a fundamentally irrational and indefensible way to select the most powerful leader in the world.
"Although the prospects for constitutional reform are slim," said Gibson, "discussing it illuminates the character of our political system and may lead us to develop a more mature understanding of and relationship to the Founding Fathers."
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