This study examines contemporary questions surrounding the process by which the U.S. Constitution can be amended. Beginning with a description of the mechanism and history of the constitutional amending process in America, the work considers five major questions surrounding the amending process. The question of justiciability: whether the courts should have authority to settle amending issues or whether they are political questions beyond the court's purview. The question of standards: what standards of review should be used. The question of safety: the safety of invoking the constitutional convention mechanism. The question of exclusivity: whether there are legal means of changing the Constitution short of Article V. And the question of limitations: whether there are any unstated constitutional limits on the amending process.

JOHN R. VILE (Ph.D., UVA) is Dean of the Honors College at Middle Tennessee State University. He is the author of A Constellation of Great Men: Exploring the Character Sketches of Dr. Benjamin Rush of Pennsylvania of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (2019), The Declaration of Independence: America's First Founding Document in U.S. History and Culture (2019), The Constitutional Convention of 1787: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of America's Founding (2016), The Wisest Council in the World: Restoring the Character Sketches by William Pierce of Georgia of the Delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 (2015), and numerous books on the U.S. Constitution.

Preface
The Origins and History of the Constitutional Amending Process in America
The Question of Justiciability--Which Branch of Government Should Have the Ultimate Say Over Issues Involving the Amending Process?
The Question of Standards--What Rules Are Most Appropriately Applied to Procedural Issues Surrounding the Amending Process?
The Question of Safety: Are There Adequate Rules and Enforceable Limits on Article V Conventions?
The Question of Exclusivity--Can Any Constitutional Changes Be Adopted Without Using Article V?
The Question of Exclusivity--The Arguments of Akil Reed Amar
The Question of Limitations--Are There Implicit Restraints on the Constitutional Amending Process?
Selected Bibliography
Index