Why is the US Constitution so hard to amend_задание

Why is the US Constitution so hard to amend? - Peter Paccone

When it was ratified in 1______, the U.S. Constitution didn't just institute a government by the people. It provided a way for the people 2______ the constitution itself. And yet, of the nearly 3______ 4_______ proposed in the centuries since, only 5______ have succeeded as of 2016.

So, what is it that makes the Constitution so hard to change? In short, its 6______. The founders of the United States were trying to create 7______ from thirteen different colonies, which needed assurance that their 8______ couldn't be easily undone.

So, here's what they decided. For 9______ to even be 10______, it must receive 11______ of approval in both houses of 12______, or a request from two-thirds of state legislatures to call a national convention, and that's just the first step. To actually change the Constitution, the amendment must be ratified by 13______ of all states. To do this, each state can either have its 14______ vote on the amendment, or it can hold a separate 15______ with delegates elected by voters. The result of such high thresholds is that, today, the American Constitution is quite 16______.

Most other democracies 17______ amendments every couple of years. The U.S., on the other hand, hasn't passed one since 18______. At this point, you may wonder how any amendments managed to pass at al

The first ten, known as 19______, includes some of America's most well-known 20______, such as the freedom of 21______, and 22______. These were passed all at once to 23______ some 24______ from the original Constitutional Convention. Years later, the Thirteenth Amendment, which 25_____ slavery, as well as the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, only passed after a bloody 26______.

Ratifying amendments has also become harder as the country has grown larger and more 27______. The first ever proposed amendment, a formula to assign congressional 28______, was on the verge of ratification in the 29___1790___. However, as more and more states joined the union, the number needed to reach the three-quarter mark increased as well, leaving it 30______ to this day.

Today, there are many suggested amendments, including 31______ the burning of the flag, 32______ congressional terms, or even 33______ the Second Amendment. While many enjoy strong support, their likelihood of passing is slim. Americans today are the most politically 34______ since the Civil War, making it nearly impossible to reach a broad 35______. In fact, the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia once calculated that due to America's representative 36______, it could take as little as 37______ of the total population to 38______ an amendment.

Of course, the simplest 39______ would be to make the Constitution easier to amend by lowering the thresholds required for proposal and ratification. That, however, would 40______ its own amendment. Instead, historical progress has mainly come from the U.S. Supreme Court, which has expanded its 41______ of existing constitutional laws to keep up with the times. Considering that 42_____ are unelected and serve for life once 43______, this is far from the most democratic option.

Interestingly, 44______ themselves may have foreseen this problem early on. In a letter to James Madison, Thomas Jefferson wrote that laws should expire every 45____19__ years rather than having to be changed or repealed since every political process is full of obstacles that distort 46______. Although he believed that the basic 47______ of the Constitution would endure, he stressed that the Earth belongs to the living, and not to the dead.