Resources
The Article V Convention process, outlined in Article V of the U.S. Constitution, has been researched thoroughly by scholars, lawyers, judges, historians, and more. Many peer-reviewed/legal reports have taken these findings into account and come up with conclusions based on decades of research and hundreds of years of precedent.
All peer-reviewed reports agree that the states have the power to limit the scope of an Article V Convention and that there are multiple ways, both legally and politically, for those limitations to be enforced. Most point to the incredibly high threshold of 3/4 of the states needing to ratify any amendment proposed by Congress or a convention as the ultimate safeguard, assuring that only the most reasonable proposals with widespread support will become part of the Constitution.
If you’d like to become knowledgeable about the Article V Convention process we suggest reading the reports below.
“This paper concludes that Article V permits the states to apply for, and the Congress to call, a constitutional convention for limited purposes, and that a variety of practical means to enforce such limitations are available.”
– Limited Constitutional Conventions under Article V of the United States Constitution, Office of Legal Policy, U.S. Department of Justice
“The Article V Convention for proposing amendments was the subject of considerable debate and forethought at the Constitutional Convention. The founders clearly intended it as a balance to proposal of amendments by Congress, providing the people, through their state legislatures, with an alternative means to consider amendments, particularly if Congress was unable or unwilling to act on its own.”
– The Article V Convention for Proposing Constitutional Amendments: Historical Perspectives for Congress, Congressional Research Service
“In summary, we believe that a substantively-limited Article V convention is consistent with the purpose of the alternative method since the states and people would have a complete vehicle other than the Congress for remedying specific abuses of power by the national government; consistent with the actual history of the amending article throughout which only amendments on single subjects have been proposed by Congress; consistent with state practice under which limited conventions have been held under constitutional provisions not expressly sanctioning a substantively-limited convention; and consistent with democratic principles because convention delegates would be chosen by the people in an election in which the subject matter to be dealt with would be known and the issues identified, thereby enabling the electorate to exercise an informed judgment in the choice of delegates.”
– Special Constitutional Convention Study Committee, American Bar Association
“Much of the fear surrounding a convention is unfounded. The Convention Clause’s text and history indicate that it grants power to the States to limit the scope of any such convention. In addition, the States have the ability to reject any amendments proposed by a convention through the ratification process.”
– The Other Way to Amend the Constitution: The Article V Constitutional Convention Amendment Process, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Vol. 30, Issue 3
“The framers did not provide an unchecked grant of power to a convention: every amendment proposed would be subject to the same conditions faced by those proposed by Congress… the notion of a ‘runaway’ convention, succeeding in amending the Constitution in a manner opposed by the American people, is not merely remote, it is impossible.”
– Report to the 98th Congress, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, 1984
“…The Convention Clause provides an important means to adopt or force Congress to adopt amendments that are perceived to be in the national interest by significant percentages of the American population, but that are detrimental to the interests of members of Congress.”
– The Other Way to Amend the Constitution: The Article V Constitutional Convention Amendment Process, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Vol. 30, Issue 3
Legal Research
DoJ 1
United States Department of Justice Report to the Attorney General. Limited Conventions under Article V of the U.S. Constitution, Sep. 10, 1987.
DoJ 2
United States Department of Justice Report to the Attorney General. Constitutional Convention - Limitation of Power to Propose Amendments to the Constitution, Oct. 10, 1979.
DoJ 3
United States Department of Justice Report to the Attorney General. The Amending Process - The Convention Method, Jan. 16, 1979.
CRS 1
Congressional Research Service. The Article V Convention Method for Proposing Constitutional Amendments: Historical Perspectives, Oct. 22, 2012.
CRS 2
Congressional Research Service. The Article V Convention Method for Proposing Constitutional Amendments: Contemporary Issues, Mar. 29, 2016.
CRS 3
Congressional Research Service. The Article V Convention Method for Proposing Constitutional Amendments: Current Developments, Nov. 2017
ABA
American Bar Association. Amendment of the Constitution by the Convention Method under Article V.
HJL
Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. The Other Way To Amend The Constitution: The Article V Constitutional Convention Amendment Process.
Substance & Procedure
Chapman University School of Law, University of Chicago School of Law. Treatise on Constitutional Law Substance and Procedure.
Further reading...