Editing Constitutional amendment (section)

{{Short description|Formal change to the text of the constitution of an entity}}

A '''constitutional amendment''' (or '''constitutional alteration''') is a modification of the [[constitution]] of a [[polity]], [[organization]] or other type of [[Legal entity|entity]]. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, they can be appended to the constitution as supplemental additions ([[wikt:codicil|codicil]]s), thus changing the frame of government without altering the existing text of the document.

Most constitutions require that amendments cannot be enacted unless they have passed a special procedure that is more stringent than that required of ordinary legislation.  Examples of such special procedures include [[supermajorities]] in the legislature, or direct approval by the [[wikt:electorate|electorate]] in a [[referendum]], or even a combination of two or more different special procedures. A referendum to amend the constitution may also be triggered in some jurisdictions by [[popular initiative]].

[[Constitution of Australia|Australia]] and [[Constitution of Ireland|Ireland]] provide examples of constitutions requiring that all amendments are first passed by the legislature before being submitted to the people; in the case of Ireland, a simple majority of those voting at the electorate is all that is required, whereas a more complex set of criteria must be met in Australia (a majority of voters in a majority of states is also necessary). [[Switzerland]] has procedure similar to that of Australia.

The special procedures for the amendment of some constitutions have proven to be so exacting, that of proposed amendments either few (eight Amendments out of 44 proposed in Australia), or none (as in Japan) have been passed over a period of several decades. In contrast, the [[Alabama Constitution of 1901|former constitution of the U.S. state of Alabama]] was amended 977 times between its adoption in 1901 and its replacement by [[Constitution of Alabama|the current constitution]] in 2022.
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