The Amending Process and Constitutional Amendments in the Constitution

The Amending Process and Constitutional Amendments in the Constitution PDF Author: K. C. Markandan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Nature of the Amending Process

Nature of the Amending Process PDF Author: Homer Stillé Cummings
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Constitutional amendments
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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Perfecting the Constitution

Perfecting the Constitution PDF Author: Darren Patrick Guerra
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 0739183869
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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Book Description
He who can change the Constitution controls the Constitution. So who does control the Constitution? The answer has always been: “the people.” The people control the Constitution via the Article V amending process outlined in the Constitution itself. Changes can only be made through Article V and its formal procedures. Article V has always provided a means of perfecting the Constitution in an explicit, democratically authentic, prudent, and deliberative manner. In addition to changing the Constitution Article V also allowed the people to perfect and preserve their Constitution at the same time. In recent years Article V has come under attack by influential legal scholars who criticize it for being too difficult, undemocratic, and too formal. Such scholars advocate for ignoring Article V in favor of elite adaptation of the Constitution or popular amendment through national referendums. In making their case, critics also assume that Article V is an unimportant and expendable part of the Constitutional structure. One notable scholar called the Constitution “imbecilic” because of Article V. This book shows that, to the contrary, Article V is a unique and powerful extension of the American tradition of written constitutionalism. It was a logical extension of American constitutional development and it was a powerful tool used by the Federalists to argue for ratification of the new Constitution. Since then it has served as a means of “perfecting” the US Constitution for over 200 years via a wide range of amendments. Contrary to contemporary critics, the historical evidence shows Article V to be a vital element in the Constitutional architecture, not an expendable or ancillary piece. This book defends Article V against critics by showing that it is neither too difficult, undemocratic, nor too formal. Furthermore, a positive case is made that Article V remains the most clear and powerful way to register the sovereign desires of the American public with regard to alterations of their fundamental law. In the end, Article V is an essential bulwark to maintaining a written Constitution that secures the rights of the people against both elites and themselves.

The Amending Process and Constitutional Amendments in the Constitution

The Amending Process and Constitutional Amendments in the Constitution PDF Author: K. C. Markandan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Conventional Wisdom

Conventional Wisdom PDF Author: John R. Vile
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
ISBN: 0820349003
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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Book Description
Vile surveys more than two centuries of scholarship on Article V and concludes that the weight of the evidence indicates that states and Congress have the legal right to limit the scope of such conventions to a single subject and that political considerations would make a runaway convention unlikely.

Constitutional Amendments

Constitutional Amendments PDF Author: Richard Albert
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190640499
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Constitutional Amendments: Making, Breaking, and Changing Constitutions is both a roadmap for navigating the intellectual universe of constitutional amendments and a blueprint for building and improving the rules of constitutional change. Drawing from dozens of constitutions in every region of the world, this book blends theory with practice to answer two all-important questions: what is an amendment and how should constitutional designers structure the procedures of constitutional change? The first matters now more than ever. Reformers are exploiting the rules of constitutional amendment, testing the limits of legal constraint, undermining the norms of democratic government, and flouting the constitution as written to create entirely new constitutions that masquerade as ordinary amendments. The second question is central to the performance and endurance of constitutions. Constitutional designers today have virtually no resources to guide them in constructing the rules of amendment, and scholars do not have a clear portrait of the significance of amendment rules in the project of constitutionalism. This book shows that no part of a constitution is more important than the procedures we use change it. Amendment rules open a window into the soul of a constitution, exposing its deepest vulnerabilities and revealing its greatest strengths. The codification of amendment rules often at the end of the text proves that last is not always least.

The United States constitution. Should it be altered to make it easier to amend?

The United States constitution. Should it be altered to make it easier to amend? PDF Author: Patrick Spieß
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3656668515
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 15

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject Politics - Region: USA, grade: 1,7, University of Leeds, course: United States Politics, language: English, abstract: Although it is difficult to prove, the constitution of the United States of America is considered to be one of the most difficult constitution's to amend, as the political scientist Donald Lutz point out (Lutz 1994). Therefore the question arise whether there is a need to alter the amendment procedure, which is enshrined in Article V. First I will give general ideas of Article V and outline the difficulties that making amendments difficult. Then I will look at arguments against making amendments easier. Following this, I will argue in favour of making amendments easier. My main argumentation will be based on the assumption that not the supermajority rule is the problem, but the inner logic of Article V itself. Finally I will examine reform proposals, which could solve the problem.

Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States to Provide a Procedure by which the States May Propose Constitutional Amendments

Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States to Provide a Procedure by which the States May Propose Constitutional Amendments PDF Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on the Constitution
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 54

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The Difficulty of the Amendment Process of the Constitution of the United States of America and Freedom of Speech and Its Limits

The Difficulty of the Amendment Process of the Constitution of the United States of America and Freedom of Speech and Its Limits PDF Author: Renate Bagossy
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3640129547
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 58

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 2,0, Martin Luther University (Institut f r Anglistik und Amerikanistik), course: The American Constitution: Past and Present, 13 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: From the beginning on Americans have proclaimed liberty, have fought wars in its name have evaluated events and institutions and politics in the light of liberty. They were convinced that they are free people and they always wanted to serve as a model for the rest of the world. Besides the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, ratified on the 17th of September 1787, is the fundamental document that symbolizes this freedom and that serves as a legal basis of the juridical system of the United States. This original document does not include speech freedom and freedom of the press, which are two of the most important liberties a free nation should have. The Bill of Rights that includes these liberties was added later, as amendments to the original document. However, the Constitution and its amendments serve as more or less strict guidelines, as the text is not unambiguous. It is difficult to interpret the twisted language of it and as I will show in this work, the opinions reach from one extreme to the other. Justices of the Supreme Court play a leading role in interpreting the Constitution, therefore a lot of juridical cases deal directly or indirectly with the interpretation of the Constitution and are a subject of this term paper. In this term paper I am going to show how the original Constitution was finally ratified, and how difficult it is to change this document. The aim of the Framers was to make the changing of the Constitution as challenging as possible. The difficulty of the amendment process is explained with the help of an example; The Equal Rights Amendment. After discussing the basis of the amendment process I will analyze how freedom of speech and freedo

The Amending of the Federal Constitution

The Amending of the Federal Constitution PDF Author: Lester Bernhardt Orfield
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781258409296
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Explicit and Authentic Acts

Explicit and Authentic Acts PDF Author: David E. Kyvig
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 632

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Book Description
"This book could not be more timely. Kyvig provides a rich and comprehensive history of the politics and operation of the amending process. It deserves the attention of not only historians, political scientists, and legal scholars, but also those concerned with public affairs". -- david M. O'Brien, author of Storm Center: The Supreme Court in American Politics. "A lively challenge to traditional views". -- William Leuchtenburg, author of The Supreme Court Reborn.