A new guest column in Sabato’s Crystal Ball by Political Science Professor Thomas Schaller argues that future ratification of constitutional amendments will become increasingly unlikely as state legislatures and the national government become more divided.
Schaller writes as this year marks the centennial anniversary of the 17th Amendment, several former and current Republican members of Congress are moving to repeal the amendment, which mandates the popular election of U.S. Senators.
“Although the movement to repeal the 17th Amendment is likely to fizzle, the fact is plans to amend the Constitution are mostly a waste of time because, other than a widely popular and highly-unifying suggested change, it is probably almost impossible to ratify or even propose amendments in our highly-polarized nation and divided national government,” Schaller writes.
“The bottom line? America hasn’t adopted an amendment in the traditional, proposed-then-ratified-soon-thereafter fashion in more than 40 years, and it may be a long time before it happens again,” he adds.
To read the full column in Sabato’s Crystal Ball, click here.
