United States Constitution: Political System Amendments

THE 11TH AMENDMENT

Passed by Congress March 4, 1794. Ratified February 7, 1795.
Amendment 11 modified Article 3 Section 2 of the U. S. Constitution.

With this Amendment, a Citizen of one State may not sue another State. (The State may waive the exemption and allow the lawsuit.)

Reason for the 11th Amendment

Chisholm v Georgia (1793): The U S Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, the executors of the estate of Alexander Chisholm of South Carolina, that it could sue the State of Georgia to force the payment of claims.

Other Rulings

• Hans v Louisiana (1890): Ruled that a Citizen could not sue their State in Federal Court.
• Frew v Hawkins (2004); Federal courts can enforce consent decrees entered into by State officials.

THE 20TH AMENDMENT

Passed by Congress March 2, 1932. Ratified January 23, 1933.

Note: Article I, section 4, of the Constitution was modified by section 2 of this amendment. In addition, a portion of the 12th amendment was superseded by section 3.

• Changed the inauguration date for the President and the Vice President to January 20.
• Changed the swearing in dates for the new Congress to January 3.
• Ended the requirement meet a month after the November biennial elections.
• If the President-elect died before the inauguration, the Vice-President would be inaugurated as President on January 20.

Reason for the 20th Amendment

• The Constitution originally set March 1 for the swearing-in of the new Congress and March 4 for the  new President's inauguration. That was because travel was so slow in the 18th century when the Constitution was ratified. In some cases, it would take weeks. In the 20th century, a Congress person and a President could arrive in the Capital in a day or less.
• Four months was much too long for a lame duck Congress and President to remain in office. They no longer represented the voters. And in case of a crisis, like the Great Depression, the new leadership was needed so they could act on behalf of the country and not their own self-interests.

Reason for the 12th Amendment

With the election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr received the same number of Electoral votes each. The election ended up in the House of Representatives and was deadlocked for a week. Thanks to Alexander Hamilton campaigning against Burr, Thomas Jefferson was elected President and Aaron Burr was Vice President.  If things had gone differently, Americans could be saying President Aaron Burr and Aaron Burr's head might be on Mount Rushmore instead of Thomas Jefferson's.

THE 12TH AMENDMENT

Passed by Congress December 9, 1803. Ratified June 15, 1804.

The 12th Amendment replace a portion of Article 2, Section 1. This Section detailed the selection of the President and the Vice President. That Section stated that each Elector would choose two candidates for President. The one with the most votes would become the President. The one with the second most votes would be the Vice President. 

With the 12th Amendment, that changed. Now there would be two ballots, one for President and one for Vice President.

THE 22ND AMENDMENT

Passed by Congress March 21, 1947. Ratified February 27, 1951.

• Set term limits for the President to a maximum of two terms. If they became President while serving as Vice President, they could serve no more than ten years.

Reason for the 22nd Amendment

• This is often called a Republican Amendment, but there were Democratic legislatures that ratified it as well as Republican ones.
• George Washington had set the standard for a two-term President. Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democratic President, had broken that tradition and ran for four terms. Though Roosevelt was an extraordinary leader in a time of crisis, many Americans came to the conclusion that two-terms was enough.

THE 17TH AMENDMENT

Passed by Congress May 13, 1912. Ratified April 8, 1913.

No longer would U. S. Senators be selected by State legislatures. Going forward the U. S. Senators would be selected by a direct vote of the citizens of the State.

Reasons for the 17th Amendment

• U. S. Senators were not beholding to the voters. Unlike a Representative, a bad Senator could not be voted out.
• Political spats in the legislatures, who selected U.S. Senators, could not be resolved.
• Led to bribery, the buying and selling of Senate seats.
• Special interests in the legislatures could block unfriendly candidates.
• Some Senate seats remained vacant for years.

THE 27TH AMENDMENT

Originally proposed Sept. 25, 1789. Ratified May 7, 1992.

The members of Congress cannot raise their salaries during the current session of Congress.

Citizen Activism

Who says one Citizen can't make a difference?

• Originally proposed by James Madison in 1789.
• Ratified by only 6 of the 11 States needed.
• 1982. University of Texas student Gregory Watson discovered the Amendment.
• Gregory Watson began a one-man campaign to ratify the Amendment.
• The Amendment was ratified on May 7, 1992.