Formal and Informal Amending Processes

When the framers of the Constitution were in the process of creating it, they also created a process by which they could alter and change it. This process is called the amending process and there are two different categories by which amendments come to exist. These are formal amending and informal amending, and both are designed to alter or change the constitution according to topical national necessity.

Formal amending has a two stage process before it can become an amendment, proposal and ratification. There are two routes through government that the proposal and ratification must travel before they become amendments. The first route is a proposition to Congress by a 2/3 vote in each house. It then is sent onto the State Legislatures who can ratify the amendment by a vote of 3/4 of the states. This is the procedure by which all but one amendment has been ratified, except amendment twenty one. Amendment twenty-one was proposed to Congress and then sent onto State Conventions to ratify it. This was because it was a repeal of the eighteenth amendment and those proposing it doubted they could persuade the State legislatures to ratify it and so they called on the state conventions who ratified it.

In similarity to amendments, which change or alter the Constitution, the "unwritten constitution," is created to be a form of accepted ideas and processes, regardless that they are not in the constitution. The unwritten constitution is designed to be a form of accepted ideas that is based on custom and precedent. These ideas and processes become so regular in the governing of the United States that although there are no legal documentation in the Constitution stating there importance they are regularly carried out. Many Americans are not even aware of which processes are part of the unwritten constitution and the actual constitution.

Another form by which amendments are ratified is informal processing. This processing is carried out through four ways: Judicial Interpretation, Changing Political Practice, Technology, and Increasing demands on Policymakers. Judicial Interpretation is used when the Supreme Court has to decide how to interpret the Constitution when an issue presents itself. This is implied but never explicitly stated in the Constitution. Changing Political practice is used to bend, stretch and give the Constitution new meaning. It has altered the electoral college, to prevent giving too much power to the uneducated majority, so that there is no popular vote for president instead it was the state legislatures who would select "competent" electors. Technology plays a part in the ratification of amendments is through the media aspect. It plays an important part in elections through bias reports and supporting. The media can help to shape peoples political opinions. Increasing demands on policymakers is also part of the process in ratifying amendments. The demands of the country in response to national needs have created the informal processing of amendments. According to certain circumstances there may be need to call for demands to policymakers in the presidency to meet the necessity.

Formal, Informal, and Unwritten Constitution are all important in the changing of the constitution. They are important because the Constitution allthough basic guidelines for the running of the country is not a detailed document for the many areas of government that change as time goes on. The amendments are important to keeping the structure of our government modern and functional according to many aspects. With these processing helping to change and alter the constitution when necessary, the government the framers were so careful to create can continue to run as a superpower on earth.