----- Original Message -----
From: "Justin Schwartz" <jkschw at hotmail.com>
> >=================
> >
> >Whizzed right past the constitutional phase of deliberation quite
> >quickly didn't we? :-)
> >
> >Ian
>
> I thought we did that in 1789. I hadn't realized we were constructing
> everything from scratch. No doubt a liberal state is unpopular. Every
> fruitcake with a particular conception of the good wants to make the
cops
> enforce it against the unbelievers. That is why the ACLU is hated.
================
This presupposes that there is only one possible matrix of primary institutional forms within a liberal state which shall then be used to develop the institutional ecology necessary to support, configure and adapt to the economic and environmental conditions that evolve in historical time. Even your necessary conditions for any possible liberal democracy leave much to be determined in terms of institutional possibilities.
Do all liberal democracies need a bicameral as opposed to, say, a monocameral legislature; do we or do we not have proportional representation; to what extent, if any, do we allow judicial review of legislation; how detailed would the bill of rights be; what would a commerce clause for the 21st century look like given all the mischief it's created; what institutions would oversee the production and distribution of scientific knowledge yaddah yaddah.
Imo with regards to the issues in the 2nd paragraph, we need some serious updating of the institutional mix currently on offer and those very institutions are the greatest barrier to the necessary updating and reconfiguring of institutions. A constitutional convention is most definitely needed and if Jefferson and Madison rose from the dead they'd be appalled at what's going on right now. J. would probably update his tree of liberty rant......
Ian