Governing through constitutional amendment

by | Jun 27, 2018 | 2018 elections, Editor's Blog | 3 comments

Republicans are pushing constitutional amendments in North Carolina that are neither conservative nor liberal. They are authoritarian. GOP leaders believe they can strip power from the governor and are confident that they can maintain control of the General Assembly despite the will of the voters.

The latest evidence is a line in a proposed constitutional amendment that transfers all power of appointment held by the governor to the legislature. They would make the Governor’s office a shell of itself while dramatically strengthening the General Assembly, essentially giving themselves executive-like power while removing the checks and balances that have made our government work. For all those people calling themselves constitutional conservatives, this amendment should be an anathema.

Republicans are taking a coordinated approach to consolidating power. They’re strengthening their position at the ballot box by re-instituting the monster voter suppression bill struck down by the courts a piece at a time. They’ve passed a bill that will significantly reduce early voting, including excluding the Saturday before the election as a day to vote. They’re putting a voter ID amendment on the ballot with very few details, leaving it up to the legislature to fill in the blanks. And their hand is strengthened without the Supreme Court ruling on gerrymandering.

Republicans clearly believe gerrymandering the legislature, Congress and the courts gives them the means to win in November and beyond. They also seem to believe that they can’t win statewide much longer. They want to ensure that they can govern as a minority party without interference from the executive branch. Passing a constitutional amendment to strip the power of appointment from the governor will give the legislature complete control of the board and commissions that oversee so many functions in our state.

What’s most insidious about the GOP’s attempt to rule by constitutional amendment, though, is the power it strips away from voters. Once amendments become part of the constitution they become extremely difficult to undo. Even if voters want change and society needs it, voters will have lost the ability to check the power of the legislature. These amendments are almost all written to strengthen the general assembly at expense of the people, forcing them to cede their power. That’s really the road to authoritarianism.

3 Comments

  1. walter de Vries

    Call a constitutional convention now. And, in the Call, make certain that none of the current members of the General Assembly can run as Delegates. There are plenty of competent, ethical, and qualified leaders in public, community, business and academic communities that can write a new constitution for North Carolina. It is long overdue.

  2. Betty Cloer Wallace

    I don’t understand this. I always thought that to change our state constitution, which is rightfully difficult, the legislature or governor had to call for a “constitutional convention” for public debate of any such potential changes before putting it to a vote of the people.

  3. jm

    Let’s be very clear about this: the NCGOP, Moore and his evil twin Berger, aided and abetted by the Pope machine and the nefarious Koch Brothers, are more of a threat to the lives of everyday people in the Tar Heel State than is ISIS or North Korea. They are truly evil monsters who wish nothing more than to destroy the middle and lower class for the benefit of the very wealthy. A pox to any and all who support them. I can only hope that the worst befalls each of them.

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