How has the power to amend the Constitution been used to change the power of the government and the people? Provide examples

Answer:

An ideal response will:
1. Explain that amendments have been used to increase or decrease the power of the national government (e.g., the Sixteenth enabled Congress to levy an income tax and the Twenty-Seventh limited the power of Congress to set members' salaries).
2. Discuss how amendments have been used to limit state power or to make structural changes in government (e.g., the Thirteenth abolished slavery and the Twenty-Fifth provided procedures for filling vice-presidential vacancies and determining whether presidents are unable to perform their duties).
3. Describe how amendments have been used to expand the electorate and its power (e.g., the Seventeenth switched the power to elect senators from state legislators to voters and the Nineteenth gave women the right to vote) or to reduce the electorate's power (e.g., the Twenty-Second took away the electorate's right to elect a president for more than two full terms).