Political Mechanisms

Constitutional Amendment

Also Known As Constitutional Revision

Citation Formats

General Reference

Political Atlas. "Constitutional Amendment." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://political.interactiveatlas.org/political-mechanisms/constitutional-amendment.

APA Style

Political Atlas. (n.d.). Constitutional Amendment. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://political.interactiveatlas.org/political-mechanisms/constitutional-amendment

BibTeX

@misc{politicalatlas-constitutional-amendment,
  author = {Political Atlas},
  title = {Constitutional Amendment},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://political.interactiveatlas.org/political-mechanisms/constitutional-amendment},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

The formal process by which a constitution's text or meaning is changed. Most constitutions set a higher bar for amendment than for ordinary legislation, such as a supermajority vote in the legislature, ratification by constituent states or provinces, or approval in a referendum, so that the fundamental rules of government are harder to alter than day to day law. The United States Constitution, for example, requires a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress, or a convention called by two-thirds of the states, followed by ratification by three-quarters of the states. The atlas records no single honest founding year for constitutional amendment as a mechanism, since it is a general structural feature that many separate written constitutions have adopted independently rather than one institution founded at a single moment.

Facts

Founding Context

Constitutions generally build in a formal amendment procedure, deliberately made harder to satisfy than ordinary lawmaking, so the document's basic rules can still be revised over time without being as easily altered as routine legislation. The reasoning is to balance stability against a founding document's need to adapt to circumstances its drafters could not foresee. 1

Disputed

Origin Year

1789 1

Often cited as the first amendment procedure codified within a modern written constitution (US Constitution, Article V), though earlier charters allowed less formal revision.

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

United States

This source names United States directly: "The United States Constitution, for example, requires a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress, or a convention called by two-thirds of the states, followed by ratification by three-quarters of..."

Source Constitution: Constitutional Change (Britannica)