ABSTRACT
Laws are made by procedures set forth in the Constitution and well-known to most Americans. The process for rule-making by the political parties is less familiar to most Americans. The agenda and outcome of a modern constitutional convention would be controlled by public opinion. If the people wanted a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget, but no other changes, there would be tremendous popular pressure to limit the agenda to that purpose and severe censure for those who sought to broaden the scope. If substantial opinion developed in the country that the existing system of government were no longer adequate, pressure would build for Congress to draft amendments to correct the faults. Attention would then turn to the question whether amendments could be fashioned that would produce improvements without dangerous side effects. Since 1789, over 5,000 bills proposing amendments to the Constitution have been introduced by members of Congress.
