The Amendments

• Article V states that all ratified amendments are valid parts of the Constitution. In 1789, Congress sent 12 proposed amendments to the states for consideration. The states ratified the first 10 of that list, now called the Bill of Rights. It clarifies Americans' individual rights. Since then, the nation has adopted 17 additional amendments, most recently in 1992. The 27th amendment requires that a Congressional election occur before a Congressional pay increase can take effect. Many of the amendments deal with technical issues in government, such as the election process and limiting presidential terms. Others extend civil and voting rights to minorities, women and citizens over age 18.
  
  

Proposal Methods

• There are two methods of proposing amendments. First, any member of Congress may propose an amendment in the same manner as proposing any other law. The member writes the proposed amendment language and places the paper in the hopper on the clerk's desk. The chamber leadership assigns the proposal to the appropriate committee for consideration. Two-thirds of each chamber --- at least 290 House of Representatives members and 67 Senators --- must approve the amendment. Legislators have proposed nearly 10,000 amendments since adopting the Constitution, but only 27 of those proposals received enough support for approval. Second, two-thirds of the state legislatures --- 34 states --- can jointly propose that Congress convene a national constitutional convention to consider amendments. This method has never been used.
  
  

Ratification Methods

• Whichever proposal method is used, Congress decides which of two options to choose for ratification. First, it may require that three-fourths of the state legislatures --- 38 states --- ratify the amendments. Second, Congress may choose to require ratification by constitutional conventions in at least three-fourths of the states. This method was used only for adopting the 21st amendment in 1933.
  
  

Public Participation

• This is all easier said than done. America's founders defined a specific process because they didn't want it to be too easy to make changes. It takes a great deal of public pressure to convince 357 members of Congress and thousands of state legislators or convention delegates to agree on any issue, especially one so important as a Constitutional amendment. Amendments do not occur without input from citizens and public interest groups.