"California is facing the brink with some of its boldest creativity yet. If a group of activists has its way, California may rewrite its constitution in 2011. The proposed constitutional convention—a potentially seismic political event if they pull it off—would play out online and in front of the cameras, addressing the fundamental questions of our society. Who gets to vote? How much should the rich pay in taxes and how does that get decided? What defines a first-class education and is it a requirement that the state offer it to every child? To make this convention a reality, a number of hurdles will have to be overcome. For starters, they’ll need a couple of million signatures to get a pair of issues on the ballot: the convention itself, and a new rule that allows the convention to happen without legislative approval. But if they succeed, it’s hard for me to overstate the convention’s potential impact as the world watches this bellwether state publicly debate what a 21st century democracy should look like." - Jason Toney from Bookmarklet