Constitutional Amendments

Amendments are the Key to Avoiding Constitutional Extinction

by Jill Lepore

Our constitution has essentially been frozen in time since 1971, making it a poor instrument for governing to meet modern challenges. Rescuing the history of the Constitution from the originalists through a comprehensive historical archive of efforts to amend it could help restore its vitality. 

The Amendment Process is the Constitution's Biggest Flaw

by Jedediah Britton-Purdy

We are not the "we, the people" of 1789. Changing Article V to make the Constitution more easily amendable is the key to breaking the shackles the document places on democracy.

Jefferson Expected the Constitution to Last 19 Years. Where are We Now?

by Jesse Wegman

Our eighteenth-century Constitution combines with twenty-first century partisanship to block meaningful reforms and place basic rights in the hands of the judiciary. A panel of legal scholars weighs in on the possibility of change. 

Of the 700 Attempts to Fix or Abolish the Electoral College, this One Nearly Succeeded

by Gillian Brockell

The most serious effort to abolish the Electoral College followed George Wallace's third party bid in 1968, when both major parties realized that a spoiler candidate could throw the election to the House of Representatives and extort political concessions for electoral votes. Southern conservatives, happy with the leverage the system gave them, blocked the amendment in the Senate.

Why It’s Time for a New Wave of Constitutional Amendments

by David O. Stewart

Four waves of amendments have wrought critical changes in the Constitution. The new Congress should commence a fifth.