VthePeople Conference | Saturday Opening Remarks

Harvard Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig, Harvard Law School Dean John Goldberg, and Michael Farris, co-founder and Senior Advisor of the Convention of States Project, deliver opening remarks at VthePeople on Saturday, October 3, 2026 at Harvard Law School. ----- What is VthePeople? Could a never-used provision of the U.S. Constitution give Americans a new way to debate changes to their government? That’s what Harvard Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig asked a gathering of scholars, legislators, and advocates from across the political spectrum at a two-day conference called VthePeople. Participants considered the unprecedented potential for, and potential advantages and disadvantages of, changing the U.S. Constitution through a federal convention called by two-thirds of states under Article V. Lessig also asked participants to consider whether citizens’ assemblies, composed of ordinary people drawing on their lived experiences, might play a role in shaping the convention process. "I think the objective of today is to begin to imagine even something more democratically exciting," said Lessig. "To begin to think about… something different, some better structure that might actually give people even more confidence in what a convention here might be." Featured speakers included Harvard Law School Professor Jill Lepore, Professor Emeritus Laurence Tribe ’66, Former Governor of New Hampshire Chris Sununu, and Former Comptroller of the United States David Walker. Learn more: https://www.vthepeople.org/ ----------------- Visit our website: https://hls.harvard.edu/ Subscribe to our newsletter: https://hls.harvard.edu/newsletter Follow us on social media: YouTube:    / @harvardlawschool   Instagram:   / harvardlaw   Facebook:   / harvardlaw   LinkedIn:   / harvard-law-school