Law & Principles
Five Questions about Article V: Question #2
September 3, 2015
Trent England
Part two of five in the "Five Questions: Constitution expert Trent England on the pros and cons of an Article V convention" series. -Editor
Holding a national convention to propose constitutional amendments is either the only solution to rebalance our political system or a sure path to its final destruction. At least, those are the two points of view most commonly heard in the current debate over using “Article V”—really just one clause therein—in an attempt to change the U.S. Constitution.
Has there ever been a convention for proposing constitutional amendments?
No. All 27 of the amendments to the Constitution were originally proposed by Congress. While there have been countless attempts within one or more states to call an amendments convention, there has never actually been such a convention.