Why is the US Constitution so hard to amend? - Peter Paccone
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-is-the-us-constitution-so-hard-to-amend-peter-paccone When it was ratified in 1789, the US Constitution didn't just institute a government...
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When it was ratified in 1789, the U.S. Constitution didn't just institute a government by the people. It provided a way for the people to alter the constitution itself. And yet, of the nearly 11,000 amendments proposed in the centuries since, only 27 have succeeded as of 2016. So what is it that makes the Constitution so hard to change? In short, its creators. The founders of the United States were trying to create a unified country from thirteen different colonies, which needed assurance that their agreements couldn't be easily undone. So here's what they decided. For an amendment to even be proposed, it must receive a two-thirds vote of approval in both houses of Congress, or a request from two-thirds of state legislatures to call a natio...
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When it was ratified in 1789, the U.S. Constitution didn't just institute a government by the people. It provided a way for the people to alter the constitution itself. And yet, of the nearly 11,000 amendments proposed in the centuries since, only 27 have succeeded as of 2016. So what is it that makes the Constitution so hard to change? In short, its creators. The founders of the United States were trying to create a unified country from thirteen different colonies, which needed assurance that their agreements couldn't be easily undone. So here's what they decided. For an amendment to even be proposed, it must receive a two-thirds vote of approval in both houses of Congress, or a request from two-thirds of state legislatures to call a natio...
