FORMAL AMENDMENT
CH. 3-2
The Constitution
 In effect for over 200 years
 Longest (by far) of any constitution in the
world today
 Why has it lasted so long?
 The United States Constitution of today is,
and at the same time is not, the document of
1787.
FORMAL AMENDMENT PROCESS
 Our constitution provides for its own
amendments
 Amendment—changes in its written words
 Article V sets out two methods for the
proposal and two methods for ratification of
constitutional amendments.
Amendment Method 1
 An Amendment may be proposed by a 2/3
vote in each house of Congress
 The Amendment was also need to be ratified
by ¾ of the state legislatures
 Today 38 states would have to agree
 26 of 27 amendments were approved this
way
Amendment Method 2
 An amendment may be proposed by
Congress
 The amendment would need to be ratified by
conventions, called for the purpose of
amendment, in ¾ of the states.
 Only the XXIst Amendment (repeal of
prohibition) has been ratified this way
 Delegates to the conventions would better
reflect public opinion than state legislators
Amendment Method 3
 An amendment may be proposed by a
national convention, called by Congress, at
the request of 2/3 of the state legislatures
(today 34 states)
 The amendment must then be ratified by ¾
of the state legislatures.
Amendment Method 4
 An amendment may be proposed by a
national convention
 The amendment then must be ratified by ¾
of the States.
 The original Constitution was adopted in
much the same way.
Federalism and Popular
Sovereignty
 The amendment process reflects federalism
 The amendment is proposed at the national
level and is ratified at the state level.
 Some have criticized the practice of sending
amendments to the state legislature instead
of a ratifying convention because it could
permit a constitutional change without a
clear-cut expression by the people.
US Supreme Court ruled in “Hawke v. Smith” (1920)
that states cannot require an amendment proposed
by Congress to be approved by a vote of the people
of the State before it can be ratified by the State
legislature.
However, a state legislature can call for an advisory
vote by the people before it acts. (“Kimble v.
Swackhamer” 1978)
Proposed Amendments
 Only 1 restriction on the subjects proposed
for amendment to the US Constitution.
 Article V declares that “no State, without its
Consent, shall be deprived of its equal
Suffrage in the Senate”.
 When both houses of Congress pass a
resolution calling for an amendment, the
President doesn’t have to sign it because the
Congress is not legislating (making a law)
Proposed Amendments
 States can initially reject a proposed amendment
and then agree to it later.
 However, once a state has approved an
amendment, the action is final.
 There have been nearly 15, 000 joint resolutions
calling for amendments.
 Only 33 have been sent to the states
 Only 27 have been ratified.
 Congress can place “a reasonable time limit” on
proposed amendments (Dillon v. Gloss 1921)
 Usually the time limit is 7 years.
The 27 Amendments
 Chart p. 76 listed amendments and how long
it took to ratify each.
 The Bill of Rights
 First 10 amendments were added less than 3
years after the Constitution went into effect.
 The later amendments grew out of some
particular, and often interesting set of
circumstances
Some Interesting Amendments
 XIIth Amendment—added after the Electoral
College failed to produce a winner in the
Presidential race of 1800. Jefferson won after a
long bitter fight in the House of Representatives.
 XIIIth Amendment—abolished slavery in the USA
 XIVth Amendment—All people born in the USA
are citizens of the country and the state they live
in.
 XVth Amendment—The right to vote cannot be
denied on the basis of race, color, or previous
condition of servitude.
More Interesting Amendments
 XVIIIth Amendment—Nation-wide
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prohibition of alcohol
XXIst Amendment—Repealed XVIIIth
Amendment (Prohibition lasted < 14 years)
XXIInd Amendment—Limits the service of the
President to two 4-year terms
XXVIth Amendment—Lowered the voting
age to 18
“Old enough to fight, old enough to vote”
More Interesting Amendment
 XXVth Amendment—Presidential Succession
 XXVIIth Amendment
 Proposed September 25, 1789 as part of the Bill
of Rights
 Ratified May 7, 1992 (203 years later)
 Stated that any pay raise Congress approved for
itself couldn’t take effect until an election had
occurred
LET’S REVIEW…
 1) Describe four possible methods of
amending the Constitution? (slides 4-7)
 2) Describe three freedoms of the Bill of
Rights? Belief and expression; freedom and
security of the person; fair and equal
treatment
 3) Why does the Constitution provide that
both houses of Congress must agree to a
proposal of an amendment?
LET’S REVIEW…
 Amendments should reflect the will of all the
people. If only one house was required, all
the people would not be represented.
 THE END