The Amendment Process

1
The Amendment Process

• Ch 3 Sec 3

2
Amendment

• Definition A written change made to the
  Constitution

3
The Amendment Process

• Outlined in Article V of the U.S. Constitution
• The Process is purposely grueling
• Why?

4
Amendment Proposal

• Can be proposed in 2 ways
• Congress- w/ a two-thirds vote in both houses
• States- Legislatures of two-thirds of the states
  (34 of 50) can ask Congress to call a national
  convention to propose an amendment (Never been
  used successfully)
• After an Amendment is proposed it must be
  ratified by three-fourths of the states (38 of
  50)

5
Amendment Ratification

• Can be ratified in 2 ways
• Sending the proposed amendment to the state
  legislatures for approval (all but 1 have been
  approved by this method)
• Sending the proposed amendment to state
  conventions for consideration

27th Amendment Ratification by year
6
Amendment Process

• If the Amendment is ratified by the required
  number of people then it gets written into the
  Constitution
• If the people do not like the effects of the
  Amendment it can be repealed, or canceled, by
  another Amendment

7
What happens if an amendment fails to gain ¾ of
states approval?

• Answer It does NOT become a part of our
  constitution. Most amendments today have
  expiration dates and eventually disappear into
  memory.

8
Failed Amendments

• Anti-Title Amendment (1810) Receiving title of
  nobility from foreign country takes away
  citizenship
• Slavery Amendment (1861) Prohibits Congress
  from passing law that could outlaw slavery
• Child Labor Amendment (1926) Congress power to
  regulate child labor
• Equal Rights Amendment (1972) No law denied by
  US or state on account of sex
• Washington DC Voting Rights Amendment (1978) DC
  equal to a state in Congress