Finally, it is likely that most state legislators agree with their constituents that federal reform is needed.
CONCLUSION
Col. Mason declined signing the proposed constitution in 1787 on the grounds that it made the government too powerful. He concluded "that it would end either in monarchy, or a tyrannical aristocracy/" [2] Jefferson suggested that we should keep the government responsive to the people by holding a constitutional convention at least "once each 20 years." Washington, in his 1796 Farewell Address, wrote that our right to alter our Constitution is the basis for our form of government. We now have a course of action open to us that responds to Washington, [3] Jefferson and Mason. In a sense, the ball is in the state legislatures' court. In another sense, it is in ours.
[1] These probabilities are discussed in subsequent articles.
[2] See Madison's Notes for Saturday, Sept. 25, 1787.
[3] Washington wrote, in his Farewell Address of 1796, that ". . . the basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government."
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