Amending the constitution

Stage 2

Ratification. This occurs by two thirds majority in both houses of Congress, the support of two thirds at national constitutional convention, or three quarters of state constitutional conventions

Debate

The process for amending the constitution is deliberately designed to be difficult, to protect the principles of the system of government set out by the framers. The process does not make amendment impossible, but reflects the federalists' belief that the popular passions need filtering. On the other hand, the difficult amendment process makes the addition of even widely supported amendments almost impossible, as seen with the failure of the Equal Rights Amendment. The constitution can become 'fossilised': parts that have become obsolete, like the 3rd Amendment, survive, while, more importantly, rights and values that may no longer have majority support are sustained.

Stage 1

Amendments can be proposed either by Congress, or by a national constitutional convention , or by state constitutional conventions. All amendments to date have been proposed by Congress.

History

Only 27 amendments to the constitution have ever been completed. The first 10 amendments are collectively known as the Bill of Rights and were ratified by the states in 1791. In the succeeding 220 years, there have only been 17 further amendments, even though thousands have been proposed. All of the successful amendments have either been concerned with advancing equal rights or with reforming government structures and practices, with the exception of the 18th and 21st amendments, which imposed prohibition in 1919 and repealed it in 1933. Proposed amendments include the Balanced Budget in 1995 and Flag Desecration in 2006, both of which failed to get enough votes in the Senate

Evolution of federalism

The relationship between the federal and state governments has been a constant source of political debate in America since the founding of the Republic. Those on the left believe that there should be a strong federal government, both to manage the economy and stem the excesses of corporate power, and to ensure basic standards of rights and services. Those on the right see states as retaining a vital role: they were the foundation of the republic, embody the American ethos of rugged individualism and act as a necessary safeguard against the liberal agenda of the institutions of the federal government. The history of the federal-state relationship has been, from the earliest years, one of steady expansion of the reach of the federal government and the diminution of that of the states. Not only did the powers of the federal government steadily increase, but, from the end of the nineteenth century, the states became increasingly dependent on the federal government through the system of federal grants, a dependence on the federal government through a system of federal grants, a dependence accelerated by the 16th Amendment authorising a federal income tax