A constitutional amendment is a revision or the formal change of the contents of the written constitution of a state or nation. However, for these amendments to be implemented, many states or countries, make demands that the amendments should not be employed until certain conditions are met. The changes proceed through a specially defined procedure; often, the required procedure is more stringent than that required for the making of ordinary legislation. Some of the special requirements that should be met before the amendments are done, include direct approval by the electorates during a referendum, a unanimous agreement among the superior majority of the legislature, or a combination of two or more of the varied procedures. In the case where the amendments are to be imposed through the involvement of a referendum, the jurisdiction of popular initiative may be a requirement (Patterson, 2009).
In the case of the U.S. government, there are two modes through which constitutional amendments may be employed, though one has not been used yet. The first case is where the bill is to go through both houses of the legislature, by the express unanimous agreement of a two-thirds majority. After the bill has passed the two houses, it is taken to the state level. This is the amendment route used in America up till now, though there has been a special concern regarding the highly procedural and slow nature of the desire for amendment changes. In this case, there are still some outstanding amendments, proposed years back, a case that has led the American government to impose the demand that such a seven-year time limit should be pointed out, during the time when amendments are going through the amendment procedure (Patterson, 2009).
The way through which amendments are imposed on the American constitution as per Article V of the constitution may take two procedures, though only one model has been used in making amendments to the U.S. constitution. Of all the American amendments implemented, the model of the amendments has been taken one of these routes: where two-thirds of the members of the senate and the house approve the proposal for the given amendment, after which the changes are escalated to the states level, where the voting may be done for or against the proposed changes.
The second procedure of passing constitutional amendments places the demand that two-thirds of the legislatures of the different states call for a constitutional convention. The constitutional convention may propose changes, as may deem fit, after which the amendments are to be approved by three-fourths of the states. The reason why a constitutional amendment is done is the supposed need to improve the contents or correct any errors or revise areas that evidently call for changes to the original context of the constitutional provisions inaugurated in 1978. Up to date, 27 constitutional amendments have been approved, while six others, which have been proposed during the history of the U.S., have been disapproved out rightly. Thousands of proposed amendments have been debated at the legislative level, though these have not been pushed to the other levels of the amendments process (U.S. Const. amend. V).
In the case of the American bill of rights, Congress responded to the will of the people of America, so they could earn their confidence and trust. The problems contained in the original document, which led to the need for the adoption of the bill of rights, included lack of guarantees in the original document, regarding the essential liberties and the rights of the American people, which were not reflected in the American constitution, as they had been omitted during the crafting of the original constitutional document. Another problem that led to the formation of the bill of rights was the need to revise the constitutions in the manner of dealing with the compensation of the members of Congress. This proposed change had been denied before but was granted later on May 7, 1992, by the 27th amendment of the constitution. The other problem in the previous document, which led to the adoption of the bill of rights, was the lack of provisions, guarding and guiding against the government’s abuse of power, after the formation of the new national government. The original document also had the problem, which did not expressly account for the fundamental rights of individuals (U.S. Const. amend. V).
The effects of the bill of rights, which were the effects of the different amendments covered under the bill of rights, included the fact that the first eight adjustments of the U.S. constitution, expressly limited the power of the government, through giving a range of rights and liberties, which every individual was entitled to. The other impact of the bill of rights, through the provisions of the ninth adjustment, forwarded the suggestion that the rights of individuals and groups, other than the rights that were listed, might also exist. Through the tenth amendment, the bill of rights made it expressly known, that the federal government, in its operations, was to be guided by only powers granted to its usage, only by the provisions of the constitution.
The idea, in this case, was that the provisions fully gave the array under which the government would act and that the government would not act outside of the expressly accounted authority. From the fourteenth amendment of 1968, the government and local governments are limited to exercising anything beyond what is granted to their range of authority, expressly directing that the U.S. government cannot violate the bill of rights unless the area of contention is revised through an amendment. Another impact is that the bill of rights received autonomy in that it could not be amended by ordinary laws, but only by another provision of the constitution (U.S. Const. Art. V, § 1).
Some of the problems in the original document and the changes in society, which led to later amendments, may be demonstrated by this case. The case of prohibition in the United States, was a nationwide ban, restricting the manufacture, sale, or the transportation of alcohol, between the years 1919 and 1933. The ban was an imposition of the eighteenth amendment of the U.S. constitution. The Volstead Act set down the guidelines regarding the reinforcement of the ban, and a description of the types of brews, which were to be subject to the prohibition provisions. However, the prohibition was ended by the endorsement of the 21st amendment, which overruled the provisions of the 18th amendment. The prohibition ended on December 5, 1933.
The problem in the original document from the case involving the prohibition of alcohol was pointed out as the lack of consideration for the different groups within the society. In the prohibition case, the provisions of the document were directly going against the rights and the entitlement of the Catholics, who have the culture of drinking, falling within their religious and cultural ideals. The prohibition was also against the central aspect of urban life and the lifestyle of immigrants, who considered drinking a core aspect of their everyday livelihood.
The changes within the society led to the changes in the amendments that saw the lifting of the alcohol ban, included the flouting of the law that took place during the time, when the prohibition was in operation, the lack of a common agreement and consensus regarding the ban, the formation of a varied number of criminal groups, these including the American Mafia; and the revolt of other cliques not comfortable with the alcohol prohibition. The incidences of widespread disrespect for the law had also become rampant; corruption among members of the police force and politicians had also escalated desperately (U.S. Const. amend. XIV).
The previous versions of the constitution did not declare slavery and unwilling servitude. Thus that was the problem with the original document, as this was an area that the Americans wanted to see addressed. The changes in the society that led to the thirteenth amendment were the increasing sense of autonomy and the desire for liberty among the American people, an awareness that led to the incidence of revolts against slavery and forced labour. These gaps in the previous versions of the constitution, as well as the societal changes, led to the enactment of the thirteenth amendment (U.S. Const., amend. XIII, §1).
From the coverage of the fourteenth amendment, the problem which was evident in the original constitution was that it did not address the issue of declaring blacks legitimate citizens of the United States. The societal changes that led to the edition of the fourteenth amendment included the increased protest and pursuit by the blacks so that they would be considered legitimate American citizens. The problem or the omission in the original constitution was that it did not address the issue of declaring all Americans as equal, despite their race or previous servitude status, thus legible to vote (U.S. Const., amend. XVI, §1).
The changes within the society that led to the fifteenth amendment, were the increasing awareness and pursuit for equality among the blacks and the whites in America, as well as the pursuit of the blacks so that they would be able to vote (U.S. Const., amend. XV, §1). The effects of the constitutional amendments discussed included the lift of the alcohol ban, which went against the livelihood of groups like the Catholics; the banishment of slavery and forced servitude; the declaration of the blacks as legitimate American citizens; and the granting of the authority to vote to the black Americans (Patterson, 2009).
From the discussion, it has been uncovered that due to the problem areas, ambiguities or omissions included in the previous constitutional documents, amendments can be employed by the legislature, to omit such areas of error. The issues that may lead to such amendments include the pursuit of groups, protests regarding societal problems, or the desire to adapt to the changes in society.
References
Patterson, T. E. (2009). The American democracy. New York: McGraw-Hill.
U.S. Const. amend XIII ” Slavery and Involuntary Servitude”. (repealed1864).
U.S. Const. amend XIV “Citizenship Clause”. (repealed1868).
U.S. Const. amend XV “Right to vote”. (repealed1870).
U.S. Const. art. V, § 1 (repealed 1787).