The Daily Delegate

Julian Leake
Conventions and Assemblies Desk Editor

One of the goals of Youth and Government is to provide civic knowledge, making sure that every delegate understands governmental structure and procedures. However, many delegates remain uninformed about program areas beyond their own, potentially finding it challenging to gain comprehensive knowledge of every program offered. 

Government and legislation are without a doubt difficult subjects for one to wrap their head around. However, some of the most difficult branches to understand are the Conventions and Assembly. These categories encompass the Constitutional Convention, International Convention, and National Assembly. 

The Constitutional Convention, also known as Con Con, is a rigorous program that requires delegates to write and attempt to ratify a State Constitution. Delegates talk to groups of various sizes, get to know their peers and elect a Presiding Speaker. Delegates are constantly speaking in support of their proposals in highly competitive debates, which span the entire weekend. 

Talking typically of government values and structure, Con Con is never short of debates regarding governmental problems. According to Duncan Rampen of Westchester Family YMCA Delegation (C-Town), “One of the biggest [values] we talked about is voters’ rights and government structure.” Members of this program area often grow to see argument as a sport and have or will grow to have great public speaking skills.

A new program in the Conventions category, the International Convention, is already showing great promise. This area allows delegates to tackle world problems and create solutions. Delegates work in small groups to discuss and learn about international issues. According to South Pasadena and San Marino Delegation (SPASM) delegate Ulysses Frias, “Things we talked about were worker’s rights and migrant workers.” Once delegates have gathered sufficient data, they will craft a presentation composed of their research and solutions and present their final ideas. 

In the National Assembly delegates have mainly focused on national issues and come up with realistic solutions. Working solo or with a partner delegates conduct research on how to garner the help of non-governmental organizations and businesses to help resolve their issues. Delegates use all means of persuasion, including presentations, speeches, and rigorous debate to get their proposed solution chosen.

International Convention focuses on the world, National Assembly places emphasis on the country, and Constitutional Convention centers on the state. Though each program area covers different jurisdictions, they all debate similar issues. Whether it is regarding worker’s rights internationally or voter’s rights domestically in California, each program has similar issues solved in different ways. 

The governmental process is a giant machine with every piece playing a specific role in making the machine run. While each machine part does their job in a different manner, they each work to solve the same problem.

International Convention delegates debate on Proposal 128 on AI ethics. Photo By: Daisy Flores, The Daily Delegate Staff