How to Amend the U.S. Constitution
Despite the Constitution's hard-set laws, regulations, and restrictions on the American government, it is possible to change the U.S. Constitution by amending it.
Amending the Constitution: Article V sets out two methods for the proposal and two methods for the ratification of constitutional amendments, creating four possible methods of formal amendments-changes or additions that become part of the written language of the Constitution itself.
Amending the Constitution: Article V sets out two methods for the proposal and two methods for the ratification of constitutional amendments, creating four possible methods of formal amendments-changes or additions that become part of the written language of the Constitution itself.
Formal Amendment Process
Four different ways by which amendments may be added to the Constitution:
Four different ways by which amendments may be added to the Constitution:
The process of amending the constitution consists of two steps: proposal and ratification.
Proposal:
- Both houses of Congress must propose the amendment with at least 2/3 votes, this can be incredibly difficult because members of Congress tend to vote for their political party and rarely roam away from that.
- 2/3 of the State Legislatures must call upon Congress to have a Constitutional Convention.
Ratification:
- 3/4 of the State legislatures must approve of the amendment proposed by Congress.
OR
- 3/4 of the states must approve the amendment via ratifying conventions. This method has only been used once, to repeal Prohibition (21st Amendment).