INTRODUCTION
The US Constitution is written. It is rigid. The reason for its rigidity is that its amendment process is challenging and complicated. A unique method is required to amend this Constitution. Only 26 modifications have been made to the Constitution so far in the history of the US Constitution.
PROCEDURE OF AMENDMENT
Article 5 of the Constitution provides that amendments can be initiated in either of two ways. They are as follows;
(i) By a two-thirds vote in both Houses of the Congress
(ii) On the petition of two-thirds of the States
RATIFICATION (APPROVAL)
Ratification can also be accomplished in either of the two manners.
(i) By approval of three-fourths of the States
(ii) By conventions called for this purpose in three fourth of the States
TIME LIMIT FOR RATIFICATION
Formerly, there was no time limit for the ratification of a Bill passed by Congress. It is stated that in one case, the ratification was made after 80 years. However, the law has been changed, provided that the whole process of ratification must be completed within seven years, and if it is not done, the amendment falls through.
FOUR POSSIBLE WAYS OF AMENDMENT
There are four possible ways of amending the US Constitution;
(i) An amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds majority of both Houses of Congress and ratified by the three-fourths of the State legislature or conventions as provided by the Congress.
(ii) The State legislature makes an application to the Congress, it shall call a convention for proposing an amendment which becomes valid when ratified by three-fourths of the legislatures or way of the State, as determined by the Congress.
(iii) It is interesting to note that the States has initiated no amendment, although attempts have been made recently with a balanced budget proposal. Only one, the twenty-first amendment, has been ratified by convention.
(iv) There are two methods of proposing amendments and two ratification forms. However, the method usually adopted is that proposals for amendments are introduced in Congress, and the ratification is done by three-fourths of the State’s legislatures.
MERITS OF RIGIDITY OF THE US CONSTITUTION
It has brought stability, continuity, and permanence to the Constitution as it is nearly the same as was framed by the Founding Fathers in 1787.
DEMERITS OF RIGIDITY OF THE US CONSTITUTION
(i) It made the Constitution conservative, hindering the evolution of new social and political patterns.
(ii) It requires that the proposal for amendment must be ratified by three-fourths of the State legislature, which means it fails if rejected by 13 out of 50 States.
(iii) The use of State legislature is undemocratic, for they are elected for law and making and have no mandate for ratifying the Constitutional amendment.
CRITICISM OF THE SYSTEM OF AMENDMENT
There has been a lot of criticism of the system of the amendment of the Constitution.
(i) Difficult and Slow Amendment Process:
The process is complex and slow. Within more than 200 years, carrying only 26 amendments to the Constitution has been possible. Out of these, ten modifications were made soon after 1789 and may be considered a part of the Constitution itself as initially framed.
Three amendments were made as a result of the Civil War. If we deduct these 13 amendments, the balance is only 13,, which is not encouraging.
(ii) Unwieldy & Cumbersome Amendment Process:
The amending process is unwieldy. It is not possible to adjust the Constitution to the changing times. Even the most urgent changes may not be made on account of the difficulty of the amending process. The system results in the tyranny of the 13 States. Even if 37 States are in favour of the amendment, the amendment can not be carried out if 13 States decide to oppose the same.
CONCLUSION
There are two methods of proposing amendments & two forms of ratification. However, the method that is usually adopted is that proposals for amendments are introduced in Congress. The ratification is done by three-fourths of the State legislatures.
FAQs
The US Constitution is rigid. Discuss in detail.
(2012-S)
The US constitution is a rigid constitution. Comment on it.
(2010-S)
