But not everyone agrees the U.S. Constitution should be so cherished that it’s untouchable. Jefferson calculated, using actuarial tables, how often this should be: 19 years. Greve suggests, and I agree, that it’s because we don’t agree on what ails us. Maybe we should just follow the Constitution instead of amending it? Just no easy ones. Third, an … If it passes there, it still needs to be ratified by three-fourths of the states. The House may pass the constitutional amendment, but the outlook is much more uncertain in the Senate. Amending the Constitution is a rare and daunting task. It takes a great deal of time to adopt an amendment. After congressional pay rose 44 percent in the three years prior to the amendment’s ratification, it has since gone down 23 percent in the 25 years after, adjusted for inflation. Critics argue the country would benefit from a constitutional overhaul, or at least an update, but lament the arduous path to amending it. —Dean. Alaska See also: Article XIII of the Alaska Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in Alaska The Alaska Constitution can be amended in the following two ways: . I call it the ‘Do Your Job Amendment.’ The goal is similar to Greve’s—to limit public debt—but with an added (and crucial) ingredient: a guaranteed-to-work enforcement mechanism. Op-ed: Those who oppose originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution are not “rewriting history.” The gardener respects his plants by tending to them, not letting them grow unchecked. Watson’s constitutional amendment proved consequential, working as intended. The Constitution is a living and evolving document. But then again, Greve does make a pretty persuasive case for keeping amendments short and sweet. The first issue is why do we have to amend our Constitution? Mitchell, you really should learn to not assume. USA TODAY | December 03 2004 LOS ANGELES — Abolishing slavery. So why was the referendum chosen as the means of amending our federal constitution, and was it really intended to be so hard to succeed? The truth is that Buhari is doing very well in all sectors of the economy, don't mind some IPOBs trying to paint him bad. Why the Constitution should not be amended. Moreover, to prevent the broad interpretation of "liberty" that the U.S. Supreme Court had shown in Lochner v. New York, when it had struck down minimum-wage legislation, "liberty" was qualified as "personal liberty" — not corporate. It’s hard to settle on a solution when you haven’t agreed on the problem. There is no simple answer to these questions. India did not copy the U.S. Constitution; it took what worked for it and no more. We need to rewrite the constitution if it cannot be amended. The Constitution of Serbia states its terms for being amended between Articles 203 to 205 under "Part 9: Amending The Constitution" within the document. Under Article Five, the Constitution can be amended in two ways: through a two-thirds majority vote in Congress or by a two-thirds vote of a national convention at the request of at least two-thirds of the states. With the approach of May 25, the anniversary of beginning of the Philadelphia Convention in 1787, we should think about how it could be better. > What U.S. constitutional amendment would you like to see? Philadelphia, PA 19106. The level of infrastructural development embarked so far by Mr President is unprecedented. But how? Finally, Article 21 of the Constitution of India read: "No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law." This article was originally published by Aeon, a digital magazine for ideas and culture. A written constitution provides clarity and definiteness By A.C. Grayling A state has a constitution, whether it is written or unwritten. Currently, once the Supreme Court makes a decision, the only recourse is for Congress to (re)write and pass a law or amend the Constitution. America prides itself with a leader of Chairman, Senate Committee on Drugs, Narcotics, Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, Senator Sola Akinyede, yesterday gave reasons why the 1999 Constitution must be amended. There have been over 11,000 attempts to amend the US Constitution since it was ratified in 1788. The jugular issue is: should we or should we not? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. THE LIBERAL A related critique is that the Charter’s amendments should not include a supremacy clause as in Article 79. The U.S. can learn something from this little history lesson. The histories of the U.S. and Indian constitutions show two related political and legal systems evolving over time, their variations underwritten by their country's historical experiences. Cheers! From Greve’s account, it sounds as if most if not all of the gathered experts agreed that it should. The history of the Indian state and constitution includes a pragmatic American influence, with which the U.S. would now benefit from being reacquainted. An amended Constitution should clarify, in broad terms, how the United States should unify national defense and homeland security. Feb. 12, 2013 -- The Constitution has held the United States government together for more than 200 years with remarkably few changes – there have been only 27 ratified amendments in … Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Have Democrats stumbled onto a recipe for winning in the South? The state legislators may propose a constitutional amendment. Please they should amend that constitution. Should the Constitution Be Amended? It provided a way for the people to alter the constitution itself. Subscribe today for less than $2 an issue. On the proposal to shift to a federal form of government to boost local autonomy, the proponents obviously want to imitate the American federal system. Realistically, of course, we’re not going to follow the Constitution. (Some days I think the answer is to add a simple, straightforward constitutional amendment that reads: ‘AND WE MEAN IT!’). The problem with your premise is that your proposed amendment would eventually be used in ways that would disgust you. The UK has an un-codified constitution, or in other words, it is not found in one single written document, like in the USA. The amendment would provide legal action against sex discrimination for both men and women. Such a demystified, pragmatic view of law suggests legal constitutions are technologies for governing, designed and implemented to bring about socially negotiated outcomes. Are we witnessing the fall of the United States? Why We Should Amend The Constitution To Restrict The President’s Power To Pardon Reining in the power of the executive, ever so slightly, might not be the worst idea. Depending on the histories and needs of their "parent societies," different kinds of constitutions come about, generating histories of political, legal, and economic evolution, and being altered by them in turn. And maybe that’s not a bad thing? Levin proposed a baker’s dozen of amendments including term limits for congressmen and judges; a balanced budget amendment; a redefinition of the commerce clause; greater congressional oversight of the regulatory power; and (my favorite) the repeal of the 17th Amendment, among others.We should welcome renewe… An amended Constitution should clarify, in broad terms, how the United States should unify national defense and homeland security. My one nit: neither includes an enforcement mechanism, which would seem to be a pretty big oversight in this age of rogue government. By Richard Rahn - August 28, 2013 Email Print Comments What amendments to the U.S. Constitution, if any, would you … That was how Thomas Reed Powell of the Harvard Law School characterized the U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of its rulings in this domain in the face of President Franklin Roosevelt's threat to place additional judges, more sympathetic to his legislative initiatives, on the Supreme Court. The Constitution should be amended to require at least a three-fifths majority on all Senate votes. In a previous column, I said I have no objection allowing President Aquino another term by amending the Constitution if that will prevent Vice President Jejomar Binay from becoming president. So the answer seems to be: ‘Yes, we should amend the Constitution. …. The widespread belief is that the American constitutional republic, if not actually broken, is in a state of disrepair. The U.S. and Indian constitutions diverge in their "stability" or "flexibility." A bunch of ideas were thrown out. In other words, avoid fundamental changes. But all of this presupposes the answer to a more important and in some ways more interesting question, namely: Do we really need to amend the Constitution? Even though the Serbian constitution can be amended, this has never happened even once ever since the document was adopted and implemented in 2006 when Montenegro declared its independence from Serbia after an independence referendum was won. The changes made in the constitution will … The Constitution of India suffers from the converse flaw; in less than 75 years, it has been amended, at last count, 103 times. Note: The Supreme Court has effectively ratified the ERA already, through judicial precedents. The U.S. Constitution is very difficult to change and, thanks to a religious American sensibility that treats it as a sacral document, it has simply not evolved, impervious to the changing needs of a growing and progressing nation and world. The Second Amendment has come under increasing scrutiny in the wake of recent mass shootings at schools and various public venues, and some aim to amend the amendment to exclude assault-type weapons or even to repeal the amendment entirely. Amending the Constitution of India is the process of making changes to the nation's fundamental law or supreme law. Both amendments would be a help in terms of limiting public debt and forcing voters to prioritize. It will give the government the options to remove, change or alter, any Amendments they deem necessary for the protection of national security. Both Indians and Americans revere their "constitutional rights" — especially the "fundamental right" of free speech, and the separation of state and religion. But only in ways that force us to follow the Constitution we already have.’. The U.S. Constitution: Time to update, to ensure a functioning government It's been 80 years since our last major readjustment of government, … Americans pride themselves on their pragmatic and innovative nature; that self-image should suggest that the all-American thing to do is to desacralize the U.S. Constitution, remove it from the pulpit, and put it in its place, a toolbox of governance, there to be used and modified to — as the U.S. framers of the Constitution put it — "make a more perfect union.". The first issue is why do we have to amend our Constitution? 215.409.6600 In India, Article 356, which allows for the suspension of state legislative assemblies to permit "direct rule by the center," has provoked considerable critique, while in the U.S., the Second Amendment is a source of perpetual political and legal discord. 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