Iraqis will vote in a referendum on a new constitution Saturday. Madeleine Brand talks about the vote and Sunni Muslim objections to key clauses of the document with Noah Feldman, a New York University law professor and former adviser on constitutional issues in Iraq.
MADELEINE BRAND, host: From the studios of NPR West, this is DAY TO DAY.  I'm Madeleine Brand.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: Coming up, an American missionary group ousted from Venezuela.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: But first, Iraqis go to the polls tomorrow to vote on a national      constitution. The vote will take place against a backdrop of social chaos      and deepening sectarian divisions.  Joining me now is New York University      law Professor Noah Feldman.  He's been an adviser to the process of      creating Iraq's constitution.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: And, Noah Feldman, welcome back to DAY TO DAY.</s>Professor NOAH FELDMAN (Law Professor, New York University): Thank you      for having me.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: So tomorrow is the big vote and there's been a lot of      back-and-forth, a lot of talk about this vote on the constitution.  And      perhaps what's gotten lost in all this is just how unusual it is for an      entire country to vote on a constitution.</s>Professor NOAH FELDMAN (Law Professor, New York University): It's extremely rare, and it almost only happens in the      aftermath of some major disaster, in the case of Iraq the replacement of      the old government with the new want-to-be government.  So that's a very      exciting possibility, but of course it's also very nervous-making because      if you put up a constitution for a yes or no vote, it might just go down.      And then what?</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: Well, `And then what?' has been addressed recently with the      possibility that come the new year there might be some amendments to this      constitution.</s>Professor NOAH FELDMAN (Law Professor, New York University): In the last few days, there's been attempts to get Sunni      politicians who were previously opposed to the constitution to come out      and say that it was actually an OK thing to vote for it.  And what those      politicians wanted were some substantive changes.  So what they ended up      getting was a guarantee that for the next four months after the next      elections there would be an expedited process for a constitutional      amendment, sort of a second bite at the apple for making changes that      might be desirable.  But of course once the constitution is ratified,      there's no need to guarantee that that option will actually be exercised.      So whether that's a strong guarantee for Sunnis or not is something that      remains to be seen, and I think the voters will decide.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: So there was a bombing today of the Sunni political headquarters,      and I'm wondering how that might affect the turnout.</s>Professor NOAH FELDMAN (Law Professor, New York University): The key thing to realize is that there isn't a single      Sunni political leadership.  It's very divided.  And those within the      Sunni community, both foreigners and domestically Iraqis, who want to      block the elections from going forward, who want to block a political      solution to the problems in Iraq, are going to do everything they can to      try to stop those supporters of the constitution from getting a foothold.      And that's what that bombing means.  It means that those who are focused      on blocking political progress want to stand in the way of those who      would like to promote it.  So I think it means that ordinary Sunnis who      are thinking they might vote for the constitution may think twice about      it.  They may be worried about their safety and security.</s>Professor NOAH FELDMAN (Law Professor, New York University): The guarantee, of course, should be that it's a secret ballot, and when      you go into the ballot you can tell everyone on the outside that you're      going in to vote no on the constitution.  Maybe they'll let you in.  But      once you're in there you could vote yes if you really wanted to.  Again,      very hard to know how Sunnis are going to vote, and that's why you hold      an election.  You hold an election to find out how people did vote when      they were alone inside the ballot box and pulled that lever--or, in this      case, mark their X.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: I wonder if you can make any historical comparisons to just how      revolutionary this is in terms of an entire country voting on a      constitution. I mean, here in the US, in America, we certainly didn't      vote on our constitution and we don't vote on amendments.</s>Professor NOAH FELDMAN (Law Professor, New York University): We never had a national referendum.  That's absolutely      right. Although some state constitutions do have referendum processes.      Now the California process is traditionally flexible; the California      Constitution has been amended literally hundreds of times.  And there's      some other states where it's the same sort of thing.  But those are      amendments just to a local document, not to something that's going to set      the fate of an entire people. And in general, most politicians think that      such issues are too important to be put to the general public.  That's      probably the reason that this is so revolutionary.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: It happened in Venezuela fairly recently and with mixed results.</s>Professor NOAH FELDMAN (Law Professor, New York University): That's right.  I think that the Latin American example      and the Venezuelan example in particular suggest that there are some real      risks associated with massive referendum politics.  They can cater to      demagoguery. They can force people to line up along not very nuanced      political lines, lines like ethnicity or race or class.  And that's a      danger in Iraq as well.  I mean, there's no question that Shia will vote      overwhelmingly for this document and the Kurds will vote overwhelmingly      for it.  And if it turns out that Sunnis vote heavily against it, that      will reveal a fault line in the country; that will reveal that there is      not the national consensus that's really necessary for a constitution.      Even if the constitution manages to pass, it won't mean that we really      have got a national deal on our hands.</s>Professor NOAH FELDMAN (Law Professor, New York University): That said, if enough Sunnis turn out and vote for the constitution, that      suggests that there is a direction to go towards reconciliation.  The      question is with the stakes so high, with the country so close to civil      war--and Iraq is close to civil war--is that the kind of risk you want to      take on a one-day, one-shot kind of ballot?  And, you know, now we're      going to see that happen. So that is really remarkable and quite      frightening, frankly.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: Noah Feldman is a law professor at New York University.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: And thank you for joining us.</s>Professor NOAH FELDMAN (Law Professor, New York University): Thank you for having me.