ABSTRACT
In modern times, many states have found it more difficult to secure popular approval of a revised constitution. When Virginians went to the polls in November 1970 to vote on a new constitution for the commonwealth, those who hoped the result would be favorable had before them the unfortunate experience of a number of sister states. Defeats of new constitutions in other states—perhaps the most publicized being that in Maryland in 1968—would make one cautious about predicting the success of any constitutional revision. Equally a new constitution can be killed by too little politics—a process which, through an excess of idealism or naivete, can be insulated from political reality. In Michigan, though the convention began in a bipartisan spirit, it ended with the Republicans, who formed a majority of convention delegates, agreeing among themselves on a constitution and producing a straight partyline vote on the document.
