Amend the Constitution

Article V of the United States Constitution provides authority and instructions for amending the Constitution. Amendments can be proposed by Congress or by constitutional convention. Congress then decides how to ratify the amendment if approved by Congress or convention. The amendment can either be ratified by three-fourths of state legislatures or by conventions in three-fourths of the states. Some parts of the procedures for proposing and ratifying amendments are well established in federal and state laws, but others, such as the constitutional convention, has never been successfully used.

Steps

Proposing an Amendment in Congress

1. Write an amendment to be proposed by Congress. Amendments have usually been written by legislators. Ideas for amendments are also initiated by Take Action to Amend the Constitution.
   • James Madison wrote the first ten constitutional amendments, also known as the Bill of Rights.
   • The 19th amendment was spurred by women's rights movements and the 23rd and 24th amendments were outcomes of the civil rights movement.
2. Secure two-thirds majority support for the amendment. One of the two methods for amending the Constitution is for Congress to propose an amendment. In order for an amendment to be proposed, it must have two-thirds majority support from both the House of Representatives and the Senate. This is also known as a “supermajority.”
   • This means that at least 290 Representatives must support the amendment and 67 Senators must support the amendment.
3. Introduce a joint resolution to propose the amendment. Once you have secured your support, you need to propose the amendment to the entire Congress. Either the House of Representatives or the Senate can initiate a joint resolution.
   • After introduction, resolutions are usually printed and then reviewed by one or more congressional committees.
4. Debate the resolution. Joint resolutions are usually debated by the full membership of each house after receiving committee approval.
5. Pass a joint resolution in Congress. Congress can propose an amendment to the Constitution by passing a joint resolution. Two thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate must approve the resolution.
   • The resolution does not have to be approved by the President, who has no required role in the amendment process.

Using the Constitutional Convention Method

1. Write an amendment to be proposed to state legislatures. Amendments have usually been written by legislators. Ideas for amendments are also initiated by Take Action to Amend the Constitution.
2. Introduce a bill in the state legislature to call a constitutional convention. Article V of the United States Constitution also allows for amendments to be proposed by constitutional convention. A constitutional convention is a meeting of the states to collectively decide whether to amend the constitution. This convention is also known as the “Article V Convention” or the “Amendment Convention.” Each state must approve to submit an application that calls a constitutional convention. Once the state has approved the bill, then the state can file an application with Congress.
   • The Constitutional Convention of 1787 brought together delegates to write the original constitution.
   • This method has been attempted hundreds of times, but a convention has never been called successfully.
   • Sometimes, the threat of a convention has pressured Congress to introduce a proposal for an amendment. Simply initiating this process and gathering support might push Congress to act.
3. Initiate a constitutional convention by the act of a state legislature. Legislatures in two-thirds of the states have to apply to Congress to call a convention that can propose constitutional amendments. This means that at least 34 state legislatures must submit an application.
   • This step was almost completed in the late 1970s and early 1980s during a push for a Balanced Budget Amendment. States in 2015 are trying again to assemble a constitutional convention.
   • States can also rescind their applications, especially if their application was submitted under a government controlled by one party and the government is now controlled by a different party.
4. Consult constitutional law experts. An amendment has never been proposed by constitutional convention before, so work with experts and officials to build consensus about adopting a procedure.
5. Determine the parameters of the convention. Because the constitutional convention method has never been used to propose an amendment, it’s unclear how the convention would actually operate.
   • Congress would need to determine how many delegates each state would get, how the process would proceed, and so on.
   • There are concerns that once a convention is called, delegates could propose anything, even including language that was not part of the original amendment. There are three models that could be implemented in the convention:
     • The “general convention” model considers any and all changes to the Constitution.
     • The “limited convention” restricts debate to one issue.
     • The “runaway convention” is one that was originally intended to consider a single issue but moves beyond its mandate to look at a range of suggested amendments.
6. Draft and approve the amendment in the convention. Once the convention has debated the amendment and arrived at consensus, the convention will draft and approve the amendment. While it is unclear whether Congress itself must ratify the amendment, Article V of the Constitution does specify that Congress must determine the process of how the states will ratify the amendment. It is unlikely that Congress would be able to veto an amendment.

Ratifying an Amendment in State Legislatures

1. Work with state legislators to secure support. Congress has the power to decide which method of ratification to use. One of these methods is wherein amendments to the Constitution must be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures.
   • State legislatures anticipate that they will receive the proposed amendment and begin debating and taking action on it before receiving official notice.
   • All but one of the 27 amendments have been ratified this way.
2. Allow the States to consider the proposed amendment. The Office of the Federal Register, a division of the National Archives and Records Administration, will circulate the joint resolution, along with legislative history notes and “red line” copies (changes made to the resolution), to every state’s governor. The governor then submits the resolution to his or her state legislature.
3. Introduce resolutions in state legislatures to ratify the amendment. Procedures vary from state to state, but generally both houses of the state legislature pass a ratification resolution.
4. Pay attention to any time limits. The Supreme Court ruled that ratification must be within "some reasonable time after the proposal." Congress often requires that the proposed amendment is approved within a certain period of time. Read the resolution that proposed the amendment to see if there are any stipulations.
   • Congress often sets a seven-year time limit.
   • Congress can also extend time limits for ratification. During the debate over the Equal Rights Amendment proposed by Congress in 1972, Congress extended a seven year time limit by three years. Ratification on this amendment still failed.
   • The 27th Amendment, which limits congressional pay, was written with no time limit in 1789. It was finally ratified by three-fourths of the states in 1992, over 200 years after the amendment was proposed.
5. Wait for three-fourths of States to ratify the amendment. At least 38 of the 50 states must ratify the amendment. Once the states have ratified, each state legislature will submit an original copy of its ratification to the Office of the Federal Register. Then the amendment becomes part of the Constitution as soon as the 38th state ratifies it.

Ratifying an Amendment in State Conventions

1. Call a ratifying convention in each state. Congress has the power to determine the method for ratification. One of the methods is to call a ratifying convention in each state. Article V of the United States Constitution allows for ratification of amendments through approval by conventions in three-fourths of the states.
   • Ratification by state conventions has been used once before, to ratify the 21st Amendment repealing prohibition.
2. Check state laws. Many states have laws in place that govern the procedures for calling and running conventions to ratify constitutional amendments.
   • Some states allow voters to elect delegates to a convention who are bound to vote a certain way, while other states require that convention delegates be free to deliberate.
3. Campaign for convention delegates. Voters in each state will elect delegates to a convention that will decide whether or not to ratify the amendment. The process varies from state to state, but backers of the amendment will have to campaign for delegates that support its adoption.
4. Build support in three-fourths of the states. Once conventions in three-fourths of the states have ratified the amendment, the amendment becomes part of the Constitution.
   • Currently, the amendment needs ratification from conventions in 38 out of 50 states.

Enacting the Amendment

1. Arrange a ceremonial signing of the amendment. The president does not have any formal power to ratify an amendment. The amendment does not need the president’s approval, nor can a president veto an amendment after it has been approved by the states. Therefore, it’s purely ceremonial to have a dignitary such as the president sign the amendment. Having a notable or influential person participate in signing the certification of the amendment can serve as a symbol of the overall thrust of the amendment.
   • For example, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the 24th and 25th amendment certification as a witness.
2. Start adjusting federal and state laws to reflect the amendment. As soon as the amendment gets the required number of states to ratify it, the amendment is part of the Constitution. State and federal governments must then start making changes to policy and laws to ensure that the amendment is observed.
   • Even if a state did not ratify the amendment, it must still follow the amendment now that it’s part of the Constitution.
3. Gather support to repeal the amendment. If your state does not support the amendment, it is possible to repeal it. This process has been successfully completed once before, with the 21st Amendment repealing the 18th Amendment prohibiting alcohol.
   • In order to repeal an amendment, you’d need to propose a new amendment and go through the entire process again. Unless sufficient time has passed and public opinion on the amendment’s subject matter has changed considerably, or the amendment was highly controversial, it’s unlikely that you’ll succeed in repealing it.

Tips

• Make sure that the amendment does not deprive any state of its equal suffrage in the Senate. This kind of amendment is prohibited by Article V of the Constitution.

Related Articles

• Take Action to Amend the Constitution
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• Run for Political Office
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Sources and Citations

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