The 118th Congress passed just 27 bills in 2023, the fewest in modern history, yet amending the Constitution proves even harder: only 27 amendments have been ratified since 1789 despite 11,848 proposed changes submitted to Congress. The last successful amendment was ratified in 1992 after a 203-year ratification process.
Article V requires amendments to pass with two-thirds support in both the House and Senate, then win ratification from three-fourths of state legislatures (38 states). This makes the U.S. Constitution the world's most difficult to amend among all national constitutions ever ratified. James Madison argued this high bar prevents hasty changes driven by temporary political passions, protecting fundamental rights from shifting majorities. Critics counter that this rigidity lets outdated provisions like the Electoral College persist despite majority opposition, allowing "constitutional mistakes of the past to tyrannize the present." The amendment difficulty means most constitutional evolution happens through Supreme Court reinterpretation rather than formal changes.