Although the 48 State constitutions generally resemble their venerable counterpart, one major difference is that most are considerably shorter-lived. Three-quarters of the State constitutions provide for conventions at the behest of their constituents, making the average age of a State constitution between 20 and 25 years. New Hampshire has had eleven constitutional conventions, Louisiana ten, New York seven. In 1894 New York's Legislature made mandatory a referendum every 20 years after 1916 on whether a convention should be called. In 1916 the voters apathetically said No. In 1936 they apathetically said...
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