Question

How can the constitution be amened

Answer 1

The process for amending the United States Constitution is outlined in Article V of the Constitution. There are two methods for proposing amendments and two methods for ratification:

### Proposing Amendments

1. **Congressional Proposal**:
- An amendment can be proposed by a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

2. **Constitutional Convention**:
- An amendment can also be proposed by a national constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of state legislatures. This method has never been used.

### Ratifying Amendments

Once an amendment is proposed, it must be ratified by the states. There are two ways this can happen:

1. **State Legislatures**:
- An amendment can be ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths (currently 38 out of 50) of the states.

2. **State Conventions**:
- Alternatively, an amendment can be ratified by conventions held in three-fourths of the states. This method has also been used only once (for the 21st Amendment).

### Summary
The amendment process is deliberately rigorous to ensure that changes to the Constitution reflect a broad consensus, either at the national level (through Congress) or the state level (through state legislatures or conventions).