Amendment Processes Compared: From Easy to Nearly Impossible

Amendment design is constitution writing hardest problem. Too easy, and the text becomes ordinary politics, as in some states with hundreds of amendments. Too hard, and pressure builds outside the document.

The United States requires two thirds of Congress plus three quarters of states, producing only twenty seven amendments in over two centuries. Japan has never amended its postwar text. Australia puts every amendment to a double referendum hurdle, passing eight of almost fifty.

Most democracies sit between, using supermajorities plus sometimes referendums, balancing stability with responsiveness..