Research Catalog

Title

Explicit and authentic acts : amending the U.S. Constitution, 1776-1995 / David E. Kyvig.

Author

Kyvig, David E.

Publication

Lawrence, Kan. : University Press of Kansas, c1996.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xx, 604 p.; 25 cm.

Summary

Over the course of the past two centuries, more than 10,000 amendments have been proposed by the method stipulated in Article V of the Constitution. Amazingly, only 33 have garnered the required two-thirds approval from houses of Congress, and only 27 were ultimately ratified into law by the states. Despite their small number, those amendments have revolutionized American government while simultaneously legitimizing and preserving its continued existence. Indeed, they have dramatically altered the relationship between state and federal authority, as well as between government and private citizens. Kyvig reexamines the creation and operation of Article V, illuminating the process and substance of each major successful and failed effort to change the formal structure, duties, and limits of the federal government. He analyzes in detail the Founders' intentions; the periods of amendment activity during the 1790s, 1860s, 1910s, and 1960s; and the considerable consequences of amendment failure involving slavery, alcohol prohibition, child labor, New Deal programs, school prayer, equal rights for women, abortion, balanced budgets, term limits, and flag desecration. Ultimately, Kyvig demonstrates that so-called "constitutional revolutions" can only endure through formal amendment; without it such sea changes as the New Deal are likely to be temporary amidst the shifting winds of political fortune. That truth underscores the centrality of the amendment process to American constitutionalism, sheds light on the "amendment fever" that swept through the 104th Congress, and better prepares us to deal with such initiatives in the future.

Alternative Title

Explicit & authentic acts

Subject

• United States. > Amendments
• Constitutional amendments > United States > History

Genre/Form

History

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 547-586) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

1. "Here shall be thy bounds" the rise of constitutionalism -- 2. "To rectify the errors that will creep in" the emergence of the amending corollary -- 3. "A peaceable process of cure" devising the American amending system -- 4. "A remedy in the system itself" amending and the adoption of the constitution -- 5. "The most satisfactory provisions for all essential rights" immediate amendment as the constitution's price and proof -- 6. "Too ticklish to be unnecessarily multipled" amendments and the judicial review alternative -- 7. "In pursuit of an impracticable theory" states' rights and constitutional amendment -- 8. "Consummated amid fiery passions" the second American constitutional revolution -- 9. "No force less than the force of revolution" resurrecting the amending remedy -- 10. "Just as far as public sentiment would justify" an era of constitutional activity and faith -- 11. "Like the ratchet on a cog wheel" second thoughts about amendment -- 12. "Where the people themselves express their will" altering established constitutional provisions and practices -- 13. "The danger of tinkering" forgoing amendment in the third American constitutional revolution -- 14. "The sharp anger of a moment" attempted counterrevolution by amendments -- 15. "Not perfect, but better than no solution" amendments to solve immediate problems -- 16." To set out on a vast uncharted sea" failed quests to alter original agreements -- 17. "They thought that just being right would be enough" amendments as tests of national consensus -- 18. "To manipulate the symbol of national purpose" amendment politics in a conservative era -- 19. "The offspring of our own choice" amendments in constitutional thought and practice.

ISBN

0700607927 (alk. paper)

LCCN

^^^96007452^

OCLC

• 34412881
• SCSB-10467342

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library