Existing comment:
How We Amend
An Idea Becomes an Amendment
It is very easy to propose constitutional amendments. Members of Congress have done it over 11,000 times. But ratifying amendments is very hard -- so difficult that it has happened only 27 times.
Article V of the Constitution sets a very high bar for amendments to change our foundational document. It requires a high degree of consensus to ensure that the ideas we adopt are universal and stand the test of time.
How We Amend: By the Numbers
5 Article of the Constitution that describes the amendment process
100 Days, shortest amount of time from proposal to ratification of an amendment, for the 26th amendment which lowered the voting age to 18
7 Years, the time limit for ratification on most modern amendments
2 Parts of the Constitution that cannot be amended
74,003 Days, longest amount of time from proposal to ratification of an amendment, for the 27th Amendment on congressional salaries (~203 years) |