Article V - The Amendment Process

Article V provides the exclusive methods for amending the Constitution, ensuring the document can evolve while preventing hasty or undemocratic changes.

🇺🇸 ARTICLE V — FULL TEXT + COMPLETE TICRI BREAKDOWN

The Amendment Process

1. Exact Text (Verbatim)

“The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments,

which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof,

as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress;

Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article;

and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.”

2. Plain English

The Constitution can be amended in two ways:

How Amendments Are Proposed

  • Congress proposes an amendment when 2/3 of both houses approve it.
  • States can force Congress to call a Convention if 2/3 of state legislatures request it.

How Amendments Are Ratified

An amendment becomes part of the Constitution when 3/4 of states approve it:

  • either through state legislatures
  • or through state conventions (Congress chooses the method)

Permanent Restrictions

  • Before 1808, certain limits on Congress couldn’t be changed (historical only).
  • No state can lose equal representation in the Senate without its consent.

3. Government Powers Created

✔ A. Power to Amend the Constitution

Gives the people, through Congress and state legislatures, the ability to change the Constitution in a controlled, lawful way.

✔ B. Two Methods of Proposal

Congressional Proposal

  • 2/3 of House + 2/3 of Senate
  • The method used for all 27 amendments so far.

Convention of States

  • 2/3 of state legislatures apply
  • Congress MUST call a convention
  • Convention can ONLY propose amendments
  • States must still ratify by 3/4

✔ C. Two Methods of Ratification

Congress chooses:

  • State legislatures (used 26 times)
  • State conventions (used once: 21st Amendment repealing Prohibition)

✔ D. Protects Equal State Representation in the Senate

No amendment can:

  • take away a state’s 2 Senators
  • or reduce a state’s Senate power

unless the state itself agrees

This is the Constitution’s only unamendable clause.

4. Government Restrictions / Limits

Limits on Congress

  • Cannot block a state-called convention if 2/3 apply.
  • Cannot require national referendums.
  • Cannot ratify amendments alone.
  • Cannot change Senate equality.

Limits on States

  • Cannot unilaterally amend.
  • Cannot bypass Congress (Congress must call the convention).
  • Cannot lose Senate representation without consenting.

Limits on Convention of States

  • Cannot unilaterally enact amendments.
  • Cannot act outside proposing authority.
  • Ratification still requires 3/4 of states.

Limits on Amendments Themselves

Only one permanent modern restriction:

  • equal Senate voting cannot be removed without state consent

5. What It Does NOT Say

  • Does not limit what issues may be amended.
  • Does not allow Presidents any role in the amendment process.
  • Does not require the Supreme Court to approve amendments.
  • Does not permit national popular vote amendments.
  • Does not limit the number of amendments a convention can propose.
  • Does not allow a convention to rewrite the entire Constitution without ratification.
  • Does not detail how a convention operates — states determine that.

It is intentionally flexible.

6. Key Supreme Court Interpretations

Hawke v. Smith (1920) – States cannot use state referendums to override their legislatures’ role in ratification.

U.S. v. Sprague (1931) – Congress decides ratification method for each amendment.

Dillon v. Gloss (1921) – Congress may set reasonable time limits on ratification.

Coleman v. Miller (1939) – Ratification timing can be a political question for Congress.

Rhode Island v. Massachusetts (1846) – States cannot use Article V to sue each other over amendment procedures.

7. Amendments Affecting Article V

None.

Article V has never been modified.

Both amendment processes — Congressional and state convention — remain fully valid.

8. TICRI Summary — Article V

Article V creates the constitutional mechanism for the American people — acting through their states — to change the Constitution peacefully and lawfully.

It provides:

Two ways to propose amendments

  • Congress (2/3)
  • State legislatures calling a Convention (2/3)

Two ways to ratify

  • State legislatures (3/4)
  • State conventions (3/4)

One unchangeable rule

  • No state can lose equal representation in the Senate without its consent.

Article V is the ultimate expression of popular sovereignty, federalism, and constitutional flexibility.

Article V ensures the Constitution remains a living document that can evolve through democratic processes while protecting against hasty or unrepresentative changes.