Civitas No. 11
On Article V and the Discipline of Difficulty
To The People of the United States:
Modern constitutional thought mistakenly treats amendment as an impossibility. Article V is regarded as an artifact -- revered but inert. This belief has hardened into a dogma that corrodes the Republic.
Article V was designed for legitimacy, not ease.
The Framers understood that a constitution too readily altered commands no respect, while one incapable of alteration invites evasion. They chose the discipline of difficulty. Amendment requires sustained agreement across institutions and time. It demands deliberation, patience, and consent broad enough to justify permanence.
Difficulty is a safeguard.
In the modern era, this discipline has been rebranded as an excuse for alternative means of change. Where amendment appeared arduous, interpretation stepped in. Where consent proved demanding, construction offered convenience. The habit of formal renewal has been replaced by the expectation that courts will adapt the Constitution on The People's behalf.
This substitution carries heavy consequences. Change achieved without amendment lacks moral authority. Its legitimacy rests on acquiescence rather than agreement. When disagreement arises, it has no lawful outlet because The People were never invited to decide.
Article V provides that outlet.
The amendment process is demanding because the stakes are high. Constitutional change alters the terms of self-government for generations. Such change must be hard to achieve and hard to undo. Difficulty filters impulse from judgment. It distinguishes urgent feelings from enduring convictions.
Ease invites instability. A constitution that is readily altered becomes a platform, not a foundation. Difficulty produces clarity. When amendment succeeds, it does so unmistakably. The People have spoken through action, not inference.
The rarity of amendment is not evidence of failure. It is evidence of seriousness. It signals that the Constitution is not adjusted casually. Successful amendment carries the weight of deliberation and the dignity of consent.
To trade legitimacy for speed is a failing bargain. It produces change without ownership and outcomes without responsibility. Over time, this bargain erodes confidence in the constitutional order. The People sense that decisions of consequence are being made without their participation.
Renewal requires deliberate consent. It requires Citizens willing to persuade one another and a polity willing to accept that not every desired change will prevail. This is republican maturity.
Article V remains because the Constitution assumes that a free People will eventually need to correct their course. It preserves the possibility of lawful correction. Where this possibility is denied, frustration accumulates. Where it is ignored, legitimacy thins.
The task before the American People is to make amendment imaginable again. Difficulty is a virtue. What is hard-won is respected. What is openly agreed upon will endure.
A constitution that cannot be amended must eventually be bypassed. A constitution amended through discipline invites The People to remain its authors.
Article V does not promise comfort. It promises ownership. In a Republic, ownership is the highest form of legitimacy.
Civitas Americana