Constitutional amendment

Amendments are often necessary because of the length of state constitutions, which are, on average, three times longer than the federal constitution, and because state constitutions typically contain extensive detail. In addition, state constitutions are often easier to amend than the federal constitution.

Individual states differ in the difficulty of constitutional amendments.George Alan Tarr, ed. Constitutional Politics in the States, Greenwood Publishing Group (1996), pp. 40-45 [2] Some states allow for initiating the amendment process through the action of the state legislature or by popular initiative.

With the legislative method, a proposed amendment must be approved by an supermajority of two-thirds of the membership of each house.

With the convention method, the legislature may, by a two-thirds absolute supermajority, submit to the voters at a general election the question whether to call a convention to revise the Constitution. If the majority of the voters vote yes on that question, within six months the Legislature shall provide for the convention. Delegates to a constitutional convention shall be voters elected from districts as nearly equal in population as may be practicable. The constitution does not provide any rules for the operation of the constitutional convention.

With the initiative method, an amendment is proposed by a petition signed by voters equal in number to 8% of the votes for all candidates for governor at the last gubernatorial election. The proposed amendment is then submitted to the voters at a general or special election.

With the legislative method, an amendment proposal must be published for three months, then approved by an absolute majority of the members of each of the two houses, and approved again in a succeeding term of the houses, with an election intervening. Finally, the amendment proposal must be submitted to the people, and for ratification must be approved by a simple majority.

With the convention method, a constitutional convention must be convened by a majority vote of voters in a general election (referendum) on the question.

With the legislative method, the Tennessee General Assembly passes a resolution calling for an amendment and stating its wording. This must pass in three separate readings on three separate days, with an absolute majority on all readings. It does not require the governor's approval. It must then be published at least six months before the next legislative election in of wide and general circulation. (This is done by precedent but is not required by law.) After the election, the proposed amendment must go through the same procedure (absolute majority on three separate readings). Then it is put on the ballot as a referendum in the next gubernatorial election. To be ratified it must again achieve an absolute majority of those voting in the gubernatorial election.

With the convention method, the legislature can put on any ballot the question of whether to call a constitutional convention. It must be stated whether the convention is limited or unlimited—that is, whether it can only amend the current constitution or totally abolish it and write a new one. If limited, the call must state which provisions of the current constitution are to be subject to amendment, and the subsequent convention, if approved, is limited to considering only amendments to the provisions specified in the call. The proposed amendments must then be submitted to the electorate and approved by a majority of those voting in the election. A constitutional convention cannot be held more frequently than once every six years.

A proposed amendment must be approved by an supermajority of two-thirds of the elected membership of each house of the legislature. It is submitted to the voters in an election specified by the legislature. The wording of an explanatory statement that will appear on the ballot must be approved by the Texas Attorney General and printed in newspapers. The full text of the amendment must be posted by all county clerks for 30 days before the election.

Following this, Australians then vote on the proposal. For a referendum to succeed both of the following must be achieved

1. A majority of states (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania) must agree to the proposal.
2. A majority of the combined votes of all of Australia must agree to the proposal.

The double majority is a major factor in why since 1906 out of 44 referendums only 8 have been successful.

1. By Simple Majority of the Parliament
• This method is used to amend those parts of the constitution outside the purview of Article 368 of the constitution.
• It is used in amending the following provisions:
• Formation of new states, alteration of boundaries of states, changing names of states and alteration of areas of states
• Creation/Abolition of Legislative Councils in states
• Changing salaries and allowances of judges of Supreme Court and High Court
• Laws regarding citizenship
2. Through procedure mentioned in Article 368 of the Constitution
• This again is done in 2 ways -
• By Special Majority of the Parliament
• Special majority implies :
• A majority of the 'total membership' of the Parliament (i.e., each houses separately) and
• A majority of 2/3rd of members present and voting
• By Special Majority of the Parliament and consent of states
• This requires
• Special majority in each house of the Parliament and
• Consent of half of the state legislatures
• This method is used for amending those provisions affecting states' interests. e.g.: Representation of states in Parliament, distribution of legislative powers between the union and states etc.

Since its commencement in 1950, Indian constitution has been amended 106 times, as of August 2021. Supreme Court in Kesavananda Bharati Case held that parliament's power to amend is not unlimited, and it can not amend the basic structure of the constitution. The 'basic structure' includes the supremacy of the Constitution, the rule of law, Independence of the judiciary, doctrine of separation of powers, federalism, secularism, sovereign democratic republic, the parliamentary system of government, the principle of free and fair elections, welfare state, etc.

Japan has used this Constitution since Saturday, 3 May 1947. It was adopted and implemented as the most quintessential doctrine of Japanese governance following the Second World War and the Sino-Japanese war. As a result, in order to ensure that Japan would not be a source of future aggression, a special portion was written into the document in the form of "Article 9: Renunciation of War". It describes as follows:

Even though these two paragraphs are not expressly protected by an eternity clause, many Japanese people argue that it needs to be interpreted as being irrevocable due to the significant and precise nature of the article.

This was changed beginning in the 1990s and Article 12 of the constitutional amendments must be approved by Legislative Yuan and referendums voted by the citizens residing in the ROC free area.

The Turkish constitution was adopted and implemented in 1982. , it had been amended 21 times. Every amendment which has been approved into the document was passed by the people through a constitutional referendum that occurred in 2017. This means that all twenty-one amendments were added at the same time. Due to the contents that it would exponentially extend presidential tenure as well as controversies about electoral misconduct, the referendum was intensely controversial. Global attention was drawn to it both before and after the results were finalized for the same reasons.

• Ordinary revision: this relates to key changes in relation to the competences of the EU and requires the convening of an intergovernmental conference to adopt proposals for amendments by consensus. All EU countries have to ratify the treaty amendments for them to enter into force.
• Simplified revision: where the proposed amendments relate to the EU's policies and its internal actions, the European Council unanimously adopts a decision on the amendments having consulted the commission, the Parliament and the European Central Bank (if the amendment concerns monetary matters). The new treaty provisions only enter into force following their ratification by all EU countries according to their own constitutional procedures.

Article 177 is the only article under this part of the Albanian constitution.

A majority of two-thirds in the National Council is all that is required for an amendment to take effect. Only in the case of a fundamental change ( Gesamtänderung) of the constitution a confirmation by referendum is required. Since 1945, this has only happened once when Austria's accession to the European Union was approved by popular vote.

If a constitutional amendment limits the powers of the states, a two-thirds majority in the Federal Council of Austria is required as well. Depending on the matter on hand, two-thirds of the Federal Councilors present (attendance of one-half of all Councilors is required), or two-thirds of all Federal Councilors must approve. If the amendment would change articles 34 or 35, the majority of councilors of at least four of the nine states is an additional requirement.

Following this declaration, the Federal Parliament is automatically dissolved and a new federal election must take place. This makes it impossible to amend the Constitution unless an election has intervened. Following the election, the new Federal Parliament can amend those articles that have been declared revisable. Neither Chamber can consider amendments to the Constitution unless at least two-thirds of its members are present and the Constitution can only be amended if at least two-thirds of the votes cast are in favour of the amendment.

The Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina was amended once, in 2009, to include the outcome of the Brcko District final award. Several constitutional reforms were attempted between 2006 and 2014, to ensure its compliance with the case law of the European Convention on Human Rights in the Sejdić and Finci v. Bosnia and Herzegovina and following cases ( Zornic, Pilav) regarding ethnic- and residence-based discrimination in passive electoral rights for the Presidency and House of Peoples.

• Normal amendment procedure (Articles 153–156): the Parliament can amend the Constitution for minor issues with a three-quarters majority, or two-thirds majority upon reintroduction in parliament after two months. This shall be done in three successive readings.
• Special amendment procedure (Articles 157–163): this procedure is the only way to revise the international borders of Bulgaria; change the form of government in the country; change the form in which the Constitution and international treaties are applied in Bulgaria (Article 5) or suspend citizens' rights. When such amendment is needed, the Constitution envisages an election for Great National Assembly, which consists of 400 deputies, with 200 elected by proportional vote and 200 elected by the first-past-the-post method. Then the amendments to the Constitution are passed by two-thirds majority in three successive readings.

A proposal can be declared by a five-sixths supermajority of Parliament as “urgent,” after this it can be approved by two-thirds immediately – without an election. This second procedure is also used for emergency laws that temporarily deviate the Constitution.73§ of the Constitution of Finland

The third paragraph was made by its framers to protect the country against a future totalitarian regime such as that of Nazi Germany. This is an example of the eternity clause in constitutional designing.

The constitutional law needs to be approved by at least a majority of MPs in each house (absolute majority) in its second reading. Depending on the results of this second vote, the constitutional law may then follow two different paths.

• If the bill is approved by a qualified majority of two-thirds of members in each house, it can be immediately Promulgation by the President of the Republic and become law.
• If the bill is approved by a majority of members in each house, but not enough to reach the qualified majority of two-thirds, it does not immediately become law. Instead, it must be first be published in the Official Gazette (the official journal where all Italian laws are published). Within three months after its publication, a constitutional referendum may be requested by either 500,000 voters, five regional councils, or one-fifth of the members of a house of parliament. If no constitutional referendum has been requested after the three months have elapsed, the bill can be promulgated and becomes law. If a constitutional referendum is requested, in order to become law the bill must be approved by a majority of votes cast by the whole electorate. No quorum is required, meaning that the referendum Voter turnout has no effect on its validity (unlike in other forms of referendums in Italy).

Only four constitutional referendums have ever been held in Italy: in 2001 and 2020 (in which the constitutional laws were approved), and in 2006 and 2016 (in which they were rejected).

The Instrument of Government, under "Chapter 8. Acts of law and other provisions", articles 14 to 17, states that in order to amend the fundamental laws, the Riksdag must take two identical decisions, and that these decisions must be separated by a general election. At least nine months shall elapse between the first submission of the amendment proposal and the date of the election, unless an exception is granted by the Committee on the Constitution with a majority of five sixths of its members.

One third of members of the Riksdag can also call for a binding referendum on a draft constitutional measure which already passed the first vote.

A similar situation could be found in the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (FTPA), which, prior to its repeal by the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022, purported to restrict the ability of a Prime Minister on a whim to dissolve Parliament and hold a general election, as was formerly the case before the enactment of FTPA and is the case again since its repeal. In 2019, this requirement was annulled by simple majority through the passing of the Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2019, allowing a snap election to be held. This power of Parliament may be seen by some as a weakness of entrenchment clauses in the British system, but others contend it represents an unbridled democratic power of the electorate to effect rapid and dramatic change. Thus in the British system no parliament can bind its successor, it cannot pass an effective entrenchment clause seeking to tie the hand of future governments.

• Under Article 79 (3) of the German Basic Law, modification of the Federalism of the country, or abolition or alteration of Article 1 (Dignity, human rights, immediate applicability of fundamental rights as law) or Article 20 (democracy, , Rechtsstaat, Welfare state) is forbidden. This is in order to prevent a recurrence of events such as the Nazi Gleichschaltung, when Hitler used formally legal constitutional law to de facto abolish the constitution.
• Article 139 of the Constitution of Italy states that "the republican form cannot be subject to constitutional revision".
• Article 4 of the Constitution of Turkey states that the "provision of Article 1 of the Constitution establishing the form of the state as a Republic, the provisions in Article 2 on the characteristics of the Republic, and the provision of Article 3 shall not be amended, nor shall their amendment be proposed".
• Article Five of the United States Constitution, ratified in 1788, prohibited any amendments before 1808 which would affect the foreign slave trade, the tax on the slave trade, or the direct taxation provisions of the constitution. The foreign slave trade was outlawed by an act of Congress rather than by a constitutional amendment shortly after this clause expired in 1808. Also, any amendment affecting the equal representation of states in the Senate must be approved by every State. If the Corwin Amendment had passed, any future amendment to the Constitution "interfering with the domestic institutions of the state" (e.g., slavery) would have been banned.
• Chapter 6, Article 120, section c of the Constitution of Bahrain prohibits "an amendment to Article 2 State of this Constitution, and it is not permissible under any circumstances to propose the amendment of the constitutional monarchy and the principle of inherited rule in Bahrain, as well as the bicameral system and the principles of freedom and equality established in this Constitution".
• Article 121 of the Constitution of Norway provides that amendments must not "contradict the principles embodied in this Constitution, but solely relate to modifications of particular provisions which do not alter the spirit of the Constitution".
• Section 284 of Article 18 of the Alabama State Constitution states that legislative representation is based on population: any amendments are precluded from changing that.
• Part 4, Section, Article 288 of the Constitution of Portugal contains a list of 15 items that amendments "must respect".
• The Supreme Court of India in the Kesavananda Bharati case held that no constitutional amendment can destroy the basic structure of the Constitution of India.
• Article 60 of the current 1988 Constitution of Brazil forbids amendments that intend to abolish individual rights or to alter the fundamental framework of the State: the Separation of Powers and the Federalism Republic.
• Article 152 of the Constitution of Romania on the "limits of revision" prohibits amendments regarding the independence and territorial integrity of Romania, the independence of justice, the republican form of government, political pluralism, and the official language. It also forbids amendments which restrict civil rights and liberties.
• Under Article 175 of the Constitution of Morocco as promulgated after a referendum in 2011, no revision may apply to the provisions concerning Islam, the (archived version, in French) In particular no change may be brought to the articles naming Islam the state religion or to those detailing the functions of the King as Amir al-Mu'minin (Commander of the Faithful).
• Chapter XVI, Article 37(5) of the Indonesian Constitution states that the form of the unitary state cannot be changed.

• Tsebelis, George (2025). Changing the Rules: Constitutional Amendments in Democracies. Cambridge University Press.
• " Amendment", by Peter Suber. From Philosophy of Law: An Encyclopedia, edited by Christopher Berry Gray, Garland Pub. Co., 1999, vol. I, pp. 31–32.
• The Paradox of Self-Amendment: A Study of Logic, Law, Omnipotence, and Change, by Peter Suber. Full-text of the book, now out of print. Peter Lang Publishing, 1990. For an essay-length synopsis, see " The Paradox of Self-Amendment in American Constitutional Law", Stanford Literature Review, 7, 1–2 (Spring–Fall 1990) 53–78.
• " Population Changes and Constitutional Amendments: Federalism versus Democracy", by Peter Suber. University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, 20, 2 (Winter 1987) 409–490.
• " Unamendments", by Jason Mazzone, Iowa Law Review, Vol. 90, p. 1747–1855, 2005.
• " The Structure of Constitutional Amendment Rules", Richard Albert, "Wake Forest Law Review", Vol. 49, 2014.
• " The Expressive Function of Constitutional Amendment Rules", Richard Albert, "McGill Law Journal", Vol. 59, 2013

• Report on Constitutional Amendment, Venice Commission (2009)
• Government Archives - Constitutional Amendment
• Constitute Project