Discuss the different ways the Constitution has changed over the years. How difficult is it to amend the Constitution? Explain why it should or should not be easier to amend the Constitution.

What will be an ideal response?

Students should concentrate particularly on the Supreme Court’s role in interpreting what is or is not constitutional. In particular, with the Fourteenth Amendment, the court extended Bill of Rights protections to state citizens. Thus, interpretation by the court has altered the Constitution and what is considered constitutional over time. However, the most direct way to change the Constitution would be by amendment. This is not easy; only twenty-seven amendments have been accepted in our nation’s history. Further, the first ten of those were amendments ratified with the Constitution, plus one amendment canceled out another one. (The Twenty-First Amendment undid the Eighteenth Amendment.) These numbers show that amending the Constitution is a particularly difficult process. Some observers suggest that the process should be made simpler, as many states provide for amendments to their state constitutions through initiatives and referenda.