In the aftermath of the national political parties’ conventions, the next “MTSU On the Record” radio program considered the possibility of a different kind of governmental gathering.

Host Gina Logue’s interview with John Vile, a political scientist and dean of the University Honors College, first aired Aug. 1 on WMOT-FM (89.5 and www.wmot.org). You can listen to their conversation below.

Dr. John Vile

Vile is the author of “Conventional Wisdom: The Alternate Article V Mechanism for Proposing Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.”

The book examines the portion of the Constitution that allows the states to call a convention to consider amendments to the country’s bedrock legal document.

Under Article V, the states have an option to call a convention to endorse changes that can become part of the Constitution once they’re ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states or by conventions in three-fourths of the states.

Vile said, however, that it’s still a matter of conjecture as to just what a national constitutional convention would look like and how it would be run.

“Many of the people who are most in favor of calling a convention believe that the states would be in complete control,” said Vile.

“I don’t believe that …. In my judgment, the convention itself probably would settle on most of the rules by which it would be governed.”

To hear previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, visit the searchable “Audio Clips” archives at www.mtsunews.com.

For more information, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.