The process of amendment

The US Constitution has been amended 27 times, although it is perhaps more pertinent to point out that the Constitution has been amended just 17 times since 1791 and the last successful amendment occurred back in 1992. As a relatively uncontroversial issue (congressional salaries), it had more chance of being passed than anything considered more radical and far-reaching. Whilst there have been many attempts to amend the Constitution since then, none have ever been successful. Most attempts in recent years have derived from the right of the political spectrum on issues such as school prayer, flag desecration, the protection of marriage and a commitment from the federal level towards the objective of a balanced budget.

                There are a series of hurdles that an amendment needs to jump over in order to gain a place in the hallowed Constitution. The opening stage is the proposal itself. Either chamber of Congress can put forward a proposal. A proposal can also derive from a state constitutional convention, but to date only one has ever been successful. The suggested amendment must pass through both chambers of Congress in order to get to the next stage. It should be noted that Congress usually specifies a time limit for the proposed amendment to become law. State legislatures must then offer their support to the proposed amendment. In each case, a supermajority is required (two-thirds of Congress and three-quarters of state legislatures). Finally, the President must also agree to the constitutional amendment. As one might anticipate, the wishes of the President would have already been alluded to beforehand.

In comparative terms, the US Constitution is a difficult one to amend. There are several reasons for this. Of these, the most important is that the founding fathers created a deliberately difficult amendment process in order to prevent the tyranny of the majority taking hold. With this in mind, they designed an intricate system of checks and balances between the various branches of government. It must also be noted that a successful amendment needs two-thirds support within both chambers of Congress, three-quarters of state legislatures or conventions, and the support of the President. Perhaps the most famous example of the difficulty in amending the Constitution relates to the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) of the early-1970s. That such a minor addition to the Constitution failed to gain the required level of support is testimony to the high barriers set by the framers of the Republic. From a more contemporary angle, the balanced budget amendment of 1997 only just failed to gain the required supermajority in the upper chamber. Five years previously, thirty-two state legislatures petitioned Congress for a convention to propose a balanced budget amendment (again just short of the required supermajority).

                Secondly, the wording of the Constitution is ambiguous. As such, the document can evolve over time without the need for formal amendment. In addition, the role of the Supreme Court facilitates a degree of flexibility concerning constitutional interpretation. This flexibility enables the Constitution to remain relevant given changing values and societal mores. What was unconstitutional at one point can be ruled constitutional later, and vice-versa. Finally, the Constitution is widely respected by the American people. The experience of the eighteenth amendment (which was repealed just thirteen years later) remains a salutary lesson for law-makers concerning the folly of pushing through ill-thought out change. Politicians seek to avoid tampering with the Constitution, because an ever-changing document may well lose its revered status amongst the American public. In a turbulent sea of change, the Constitution has undoubtedly provided a stable framework for the United States of America.