United States Constitution, Article V:
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it
necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on
the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several
States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which,
in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of
this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths
of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof,
as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by
the Congress...."
Use the excerpt to answer the following three questions.
Which of the following best summarizes this excerpt?
(1 point)
The intent of Article V is to provide the legislative
branch with the power of ratification.
Alterations to the Constitution must be deemed
necessary and proposed by the House of
Representatives.
New additions to the Constitution can be proposed with
backing from a congressional majority.
Each state legislature may choose between either
mode of ratification to ratify a proposed amendment.
The best summary of this excerpt is: New additions to the Constitution can be proposed with backing from a congressional majority.
The best summary of the excerpt is: Each state legislature may choose between either mode of ratification to ratify a proposed amendment.
The correct answer is: Each state legislature may choose between either mode of ratification to ratify a proposed amendment.
In this excerpt from Article V of the United States Constitution, it states that amendments to the Constitution can be proposed in two ways: either by Congress when two-thirds of both Houses deem it necessary, or by a Convention called for by the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States.
Once an amendment is proposed, it needs to be ratified by either the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several States or by Conventions in three-fourths of the several States. The choice of which mode of ratification to use is left to Congress to propose.
Therefore, the excerpt highlights that each state legislature may choose between either mode of ratification to ratify a proposed amendment.