"Ua mau ke ea o ka 'aina i ka pono" - Revising an Island's Constitution

Should Hawaii Re-write it's constitution? Again?

As election day approaches, few people are focused on what else is on the ballot besides the two major presidential nominees.  In three states (Illinois, Connecticut, and Hawaii) there is a box to vote for a Constitutional Convention. The conventions, if they are held, may go unnoticed in Illinois and Connecticut, but Hawaii is a different story. As we have talked in class about how state constitution's play a larger role in daily life than the US constitution I began to try and think of examples of when the Illinois constitution made my life different than someone living in Wisconsin or Indiana. I failed to think of an example and my notion that the Illinois Constitution made little difference in my life continued. Overall, the 48state's Constitutions do not vary greatly from each other and seem to be trivial things that are left to be argued about in Springfield or some place of equal importance. When I read an article detailing the effects of Hawaii's constitution, I was surprised to learn that hawaians may see the effects of their constitution on their live's daily. Hawaii has changed its constitution twice since statehood, and thats a lot considering it is a young 49 years old. Each of these revisions  have had far reaching effects on the island chain's small population (just above 1 million). The last convention, or ConCon as the locals call it, added 1,000 changes, and included the hawaiian saying in this title in the preamble, for example. The changes also made Hawaiian an official language, granted natives equality, and dramatically changed Hawaiian society "many of the changes to the constitution crystalized the renaissance in Hawaiian culture that included the resurgence of hula dancing, navigating ocean canoes, and brought back the traditional Hawaiian culture" With the uniqueness of the constitution, comes the noticeable actions of state government. Perhaps because the state has such a unique culture, or that it is free of state borders is their constitution and local government such a big deal for Hawaiians. Whatever the reason, I consider Hawaiian locals lucky to be able to notice the efforts, successes, and even failures of their state government in daily life. Maybe if I lived in Hawaii I would give a little thought about what goes on behind closed doors in Honolulu. Hawaii could be viewed in a way as an example of how things would have turned out if the Articles of Confederation actually worked and persisted to this day. So this Tuesday Hawaiians will vote on something that may affect their lives as equally as the new president. As for me, I will go on living my life paying close attention to the federal government and who will be our next president and meanwhile giving little thought to what goes on in a little city called Springfield.