which of the following is necessary to propose a new amendment to the Constitution
a. approve by a popular vote held in every state
b. approve by two thirds of the house and senate
c. approve by three quarters of the house and senate
d. approve by the legislatures in at least three fourths of the states
my guess is a
No.
The question asks what is necessary to PROPOSE a new amendment.
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/constitution/
Yes, b.
To confirm the correct answer, we need to understand the process of proposing a new amendment to the United States Constitution.
The correct answer is actually b. approve by two thirds of the house and senate.
To propose a new amendment to the Constitution, the first step is to draft the amendment language (the proposed changes or additions to the Constitution). Once the amendment is drafted, it requires approval before it can advance to the next steps in the amendment process.
According to Article V of the United States Constitution, there are two methods for proposing a new amendment:
1. Two-thirds Vote of Both Houses of Congress:
The proposed amendment must be approved by two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. This means that it must receive the support of a significant majority of members in Congress.
Once the proposed amendment is approved by two-thirds of both the House and the Senate, it is then considered "proposed," and it moves forward in the process.
2. Constitutional Convention:
Alternatively, if requested by two-thirds of the state legislatures, Congress shall call a constitutional convention for the purpose of proposing an amendment. However, this method has never been used to propose an amendment to the Constitution.
After the proposed amendment is approved by two-thirds of both houses of Congress, it is sent to the states for the ratification process. At this stage, the amendment needs to be approved by three-fourths of the state legislatures or, alternatively, by three-fourths of state ratifying conventions, whichever method Congress chooses.
Therefore, the popular vote held in every state (option a) or approval by three-quarters of the house and senate (option c) or approval by the legislatures in at least three-fourths of the states (option d) are not necessary for proposing a new amendment to the Constitution.