Recently, my favorite student asked me whether American citizens have the power to change our government through revolution. After considering it, I responded that we, the people, can petition the federal government through our duly elected representatives.
However, since this seems to fall on deaf ears and our Congress appears to be asleep at the wheel, is it now time to move forward? As one of my favorites suggested, the current Congress-led process requires two-thirds of both houses to propose an amendment, and then three-fourths of state legislatures must ratify it. A citizen-led process could similarly involve two-thirds of states proposing an amendment—perhaps through signature campaigns within those states—and then a nationwide vote with three-fourths in favor to ratify it. In other words, the thresholds could be similar but directly in the hands of the people. You would still need most red and blue states to work together to pass an amendment, meaning nothing could pass without super-majority bipartisan support. That’s a very high bar. Numerous interesting structural reform proposals exist, but most require new constitutional amendments to have a lasting impact. To truly unlock these possibilities, we need a citizen-led amendment pathway in place first. Of course, we would need to use the traditional method to establish this new pathway reform itself, but a citizen-led amendment path could.