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...."
—United States Constitution, Article V
Question
Use the excerpt to answer the question.
Which of the following best summarizes this excerpt?
(1 point)
Responses
Alterations to the Constitution must be deemed necessary and proposed by the House of Representatives.
Alterations to the Constitution must be deemed necessary and proposed by the House of Representatives.
Each state legislature may choose between either mode of ratification to ratify a proposed amendment.
Each state legislature may choose between either mode of ratification to ratify a proposed amendment.
New additions to the Constitution can be proposed with backing from a congressional majority.
New additions to the Constitution can be proposed with backing from a congressional majority.
The intent of Article V is to provide the legislative branch with the power of ratification.
The intent of Article V is to provide the legislative branch with the power of ratification.
Each state legislature may choose between either mode of ratification to ratify a proposed amendment.
To answer this question, we need to analyze the excerpt from the United States Constitution.
The excerpt states that the Congress, with the agreement of two thirds of both Houses, can propose amendments to the Constitution. Additionally, if two thirds of the state legislatures make a request, Congress can call a Convention for proposing amendments. In both cases, the proposed amendments need to be ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the states or by conventions in three fourths of the states.
Based on this information, we can eliminate options (1) and (4) as they do not accurately summarize the excerpt.
Option (2) states that each state legislature may choose between either mode of ratification to ratify a proposed amendment. This is incorrect because the excerpt does not mention that the state legislatures have a choice in the mode of ratification. It only states that the ratification can be done either by the state legislatures or by conventions in the states.
Option (3) states that new additions to the Constitution can be proposed with backing from a congressional majority. This is also incorrect because the excerpt does not mention that new additions to the Constitution can be proposed by a congressional majority alone. It states that the amendments can be proposed by either the Congress with two thirds of both Houses or by the request of two thirds of the state legislatures.
Therefore, the correct answer is (2) Each state legislature may choose between either mode of ratification to ratify a proposed amendment.