How Failed Attempts to Amend the Constitution Mobilize Political Change

Hartley, Professor of Law at the Catholic University of America, teaches constitutional law and labor law. . Roger C. He is co-author of Labor Relations Law in the Private Sector

An invaluable lesson in how one can win through losing."—David Cole, Professor, Georgetown Law, and author of Engines of Liberty: The Power of Citizen Activists to Make Constitutional Law. This will be a key work in all future discussions of the constitutional amendment process."—Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of the School of Law and Raymond Pryke Professor of First Amendment Law, University of California, Irvine"With insightful examples, Roger Hartley explains how the political initiative of failed amendments can force rethinking and corrections in judicial rulings, illustrating how the general

He explains how often the mere threat of calling a constitutional convention (at which anything could happen) effected political change.. The definition of the relationship between Congress and the President in the conduct of foreign policy can also be traced directly to failed efforts to amend the Constitution during the Cold War.Roger Hartley examines familiar examples like the ERA, balanced budget amendment proposals, and pro-life attempts to overturn Roe v. They failed to achieve the requisite two-thirds support from Congress, but nevertheless had an impact on the political landscape. Since the Constitution's ratification, members of Congress, following Article V, have proposed approximately twelve thousand amendments, and states have filed several hundred petitions with Congress for the convening of a constitutional convention. Only twenty-se