Most constitutional amendments are required to be approved by states within years.
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The Constitution defines the fundamental law of the U.S. federal government, setting forth the three principal branches of the federal government and outlining their jurisdictions. It has become the landmark legal document of the Western world, and is the oldest written national constitution currently in effect. The Constitution has been amended 27 times, most recently in 1992, although there have been over 11,000 amendments proposed since 1789. Show Adding a New Amendment to the United States Constitution Not an Easy Task! The United States Constitution was written "to endure for ages to come" Chief Justice John Marshall wrote in the
early 1800s. To ensure it would last, the framers made amending the document a difficult task. That difficulty was obvious recently when supporters of congressional term limits and a balanced budget amendment were not successful in getting the new amendments they wanted. The Constitution has been amended only 27 times since it was drafted in 1787, including the first 10 amendments adopted four years later as the Bill of Rights. Not just any idea to improve America deserves an
amendment. The idea must be one of major impact affecting all Americans or securing rights of citizens. Recently, an amendment to outlaw flag burning may be gathering steam and President Clinton has endorsed the idea of a crime victims' rights amendment. Other amendment proposals that are popular with some congressional leaders would allow voluntary school prayer, make English the country's official language, and abolish the Electoral College. Among amendments adopted this century
are those that gave women the right to vote; enacted and repealed Prohibition; abolished poll taxes; and lowered the minimum voting age from 21 to 18. The amendment process is very difficult and time consuming: A proposed amendment must be passed by two-thirds of both houses of Congress, then ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states. The ERA Amendment did not pass the necessary majority of state legislatures in the 1980s. Another option to start the amendment process is that two-thirds of the state legislatures could ask Congress to call a Constitutional Convention. A new Constitutional Convention has never happened, but the idea has its backers. A retired federal judge, Malcolm R. Wilkey, called a few years ago for a new convention. "The Constitution has been corrupted by the system which has led to gridlock, too much influence by interest groups, and members of Congress who focus excessively on getting reelected," Wilkey said in a published series of lectures. But Richard C. Leone, president of the New York-based Twentieth Century Fund, a nonpartisan research group, says recent efforts to amend the Constitution go too far. "I think we're overreacting to some people's dissatisfaction with the government," Leone said. His organization hopes to balance the argument by publishing The New Federalist Papers, taking the name from the original Federalist Papers which were written to promote ratification of the Constitution. Polsby, the Northwestern law professor, said the number of proposed amendments is not uncommon. But he agreed that political fixes do not necessarily belong in the Constitution - with Prohibition being the prime example. Information Resource: Amendment Fever Grips Washington: by Laurie Asseo © Associated Press - edited for html by Robert Hedges Amendment 21: Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed. Section 2. The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited. Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
Amendment 22: Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term. Section 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states within seven years from the date of its submission to the states by the Congress.
Amendment 23: Section 1. The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct: A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment. Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment 24: Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax. Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment 25: This amendment sets out the presidential line of succession, procedures for handling a vacancy in the office of vice president, and procedures for declaring a president unfit for office.
Amendment 26: Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age. Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment 27:No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.
What is the time limit for states to ratify an amendment?This goal has been met in the case of every successful amendment. Although seven years has become the standard period for the states to consider ratification, no amendment has, in fact, required as long as four years for ratification.
Why did amendments have to be approved by all 13 states?5. The document was also practically impossible to amend. The Articles required unanimous consent to any amendment, so all 13 states would need to agree on a change. Given the rivalries between the states, that rule made the Articles impossible to adapt after the war ended with Britain in 1783.
What is the requirement for states to propose amendments?The Constitution provides that an amendment may be proposed either by the Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures.
How many amendments did the States approve?It is also common for a number of identical resolutions to be offered on issues that have widespread public and congressional support. Since 1789, Congress has sent 33 constitutional amendments to the states for ratification. Of these, 27 have been ratified.
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