What is Article V?
Article V is one of the shortest sections of the United States Constitution, and one of the most powerful. It describes two ways to amend the Constitution: Congress can propose amendments, or the states can bypass Congress entirely by calling a convention.
"The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States."
Article V, United States Constitution (abridged)
Two paths to amendments
The first path is the one most people know: Congress proposes an amendment by a two-thirds vote of both chambers, then three fourths of state legislatures ratify it. All 27 existing amendments used this path.
The second path has never been used — but it was written to be used. When 34 state legislatures apply for a convention, Congress is constitutionally obligated to call one. The states send delegates, the convention proposes amendments, and 38 states must ratify for any amendment to take effect.
Congress does not get a vote. The President does not get a veto. The entire process belongs to the states and, through them, to the people.
Why the founders included it
The founders understood well that governments are fallible. They had just fought a war over exactly that kind of failure. They were not naive enough to believe any government would be able to police itself, so they gave the states a way to act without Congress.
Article V is not a loophole. It is an essential structural feature of the Constitution — the founders' answer to the question: what happens when the people lose control of their own government?
How it actually works
- States apply. 34 state legislatures pass resolutions applying for a convention. The applications don't need identical language, but they must address a common subject or purpose.
- Congress calls the convention. This is not optional. The Constitution says "shall call". It is a mandate, not a suggestion. Congress sets the time and place but does not control the agenda.
- States send delegates. Each state chooses its own delegates through its own legislature. The convention is run by the states, not by Congress or the federal government.
- The convention proposes amendments. Delegates debate and draft amendments. Nothing proposed at the convention has any legal force yet. It is a proposal, not a law.
- States ratify. Any proposed amendment must be ratified by 38 state legislatures (or by state conventions, if Congress specifies that mode). This is an extraordinarily high bar, which is exactly the point. Only amendments with broad, deep support can clear it.
Common concerns
"Won't it be a runaway convention?"
This is the most common objection and the least grounded. Even if a convention proposed something extreme, it would still need 38 states to ratify it. That is three fourths of the country. The ratification requirement is the strongest safeguard in American law, far stronger than anything protecting the status quo today.
"Has it ever been tried?"
States have submitted hundreds of applications throughout American history. The threat of a convention pressured Congress into proposing the 17th Amendment (direct election of senators) and nearly forced a convention over a balanced budget amendment in the 1980s. The mechanism has shaped American law even without being formally triggered.
"Why hasn't it happened yet?"
Because Congress and entrenched interests actively resist it. An Article V convention is the one process they cannot control. That is precisely why it is needed, and precisely why it faces opposition from those who benefit from the current arrangement.