The Next Ten Amendments:
A Road Map For Democratic Reform In the United States of America
The Problem
Just as many of the solutions of our democracy originate in the Constitution, a lot of the problems in this country are also rooted in our founding document. The current reading Second Amendment contributes to our gun violence crisis, for example, and the separation of powers has been eroded by the authoritarian plotting of Trump and his enablers.
Amending the Constitution seems nearly impossible. The most recent amendment to go into effect - the 27th Amendment - was first proposed in 1789 but wasn't ratified until 1992. Efforts to pass additional amendments have failed because of the high hurdles to their adoption. Amendments require 2/3 of Congress for proposal and then ratification by 38 state legislatures. In today's divided political environment, it's almost impossible to imagine the kind of consensus that would be needed to pass an amendment.
Almost impossible – but not completely. Really, it’s a failure of imagination that is holding back the pro-democracy movement in the United States. We are mired in defensive policy proposals and focus grouped messaging instead of promoting transformational ideas. The hurdles we face enacting amendments should be a part of the strategy, not a reason to avoid trying.
The Solution
What if we tried to pass a lot of amendments all at once? I propose that we have a package of Ten Constitutional Amendments that move through the ratification process all at once.
The debates -- and we should have them -- would be about democratic reforms rather than the single issue contained in one amendment. Opponents of reform would have to justify the status quo, and the reality is that the status quo is unacceptable to a majority of people in this country.
I'm not an expert on democratic reform, but I’ve compiled the ideas of constitutional experts who have identified critical amendments for our democracy. I’ve also put together the broad outlines of a strategy for passing these Amendments.
While none of these amendments is set in stone (until they’re ratified, of course), time and consensus are limited. We must seize the political moment to reform our system so that it works for us, not for billionaires or their authoritarian enablers.
Campaign Finance Reform
In 2023, Rep. James McGovern (D-MA) proposed an amendment to reform campaign finance. The summary states:
This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment regarding federal campaign contributions and spending. Specifically, the amendment
- declares that the right of U.S. citizens to vote in elections in which campaign contributions and spending are subject to enforceable limits (as set forth in the amendment) shall not be abridged,
- sets forth limits on federal campaign contributions and spending, and
- prohibits corporations (or other entities created by law) from contributing or spending money for the purpose of influencing federal elections.
Not later than 60 days after ratification of the amendment, Congress shall enact legislation to
- limit the amounts that candidates, their campaigns for federal office, and political parties may spend on such candidacies;
- provide public funding for all federal candidates who qualify for the ballot;
- require disposition to the Treasury of any unspent campaign funds after each election, without compensation; and
- enforce, with civil and criminal penalties, the limits and prohibitions of the amendment.
States shall have the power to implement and enforce reasonable regulations on the raising and spending of money by candidates and others to influence state or local elections.[1]
Supreme Court Reform
The Constitution Center’s Progressive Constitution proposes the following language for Article III, Section 1:
The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices for terms of eighteen years and during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office. Judges of the Supreme Court shall serve for terms that begin in the first and third years of the presidential term. Should a judge of the Supreme Court or any inferior court fail to serve a full eighteen-year term, the president shall, with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint a replacement to serve for the remainder of the term.[2]
Other scholars have proposed that this could be accomplished with federal legislation.[3] Legislation could also expand the number of circuit courts and improve the appointment and confirmation process.[4]
Electoral college reform
In 2024, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) proposed an amendment to abolish the electoral college and to provide for direct election of the President and Vice President of the United States. The proposed amendment states:
Article —
Section 1. The President and Vice President shall be elected by the people of the several States and the district constituting the seat of government of the United States.
Section 2. Each voter shall cast a single vote for two persons who have consented to the joining of their names as candidates for President and Vice President.
Section 3. The pair of candidates having the greatest number of votes for President and Vice President shall be elected.
Section 4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death or any other disqualification of any candidate for President or Vice President before the day on which the President-elect or Vice President-elect has been chosen; and for the case of a tie in any election.
Section 5. This article shall take effect one year after the first day of January following ratification.[5]
Reform Congress
In 1789, James Madison proposed an amendment that would expand the number of representatives based on the population of the United States. He proposed a ratio of one representative for every 30,000 persons (not citizens). The House has not expanded in more than 100 years and currently has 435 members. Scholars now suggest that between 535 and 630 members would be more reflective of our current population.[6]
While an expansion of Congress could be accomplished with federal legislation, an amendment that revises the number of representatives by a formula every 20 years would ensure greater representation.
In 2023, Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) proposed an amendment to expand the House and the Senate that would add 12 at-large senators elected by popular vote.[7]
End Gerrymandering
In 2021, the House passed the For the People Act, which addressed voter access, election security and campaign finance, and ethics reform.[8] Included in the bill was language requiring states to establish independent redistricting commissions to redraw their maps after each census.[9]
This could easily be accomplished with federal legislation. However, the inclusion of an amendment accomplishing this would clarify the Fourteenth Amendment and raise the profile of an issue that is broadly supported by voters but rarely highlighted by politicians.[10]
Compulsory Voting or Universal Civic Duty Voting
In 2024, only 65.3% of the voting age population voted in the Presidential election.[12] This was the second highest turnout election since 1908.[13] Fewer than 50% of voters typically turn out for midterm elections.
Scholars have found that democracies that have compulsory voting have much higher voter turnout, and it has been proposed in several states.[14]
This may be one of the less popular amendments, and it may raise First Amendment concerns. However, language encouraging citizens to vote, without enforcement measures, could provide clarity to the Fifteenth Amendment, essentially expanding voting rights beyond the enfeebled Voting Rights Act.
Amendment Reform
Article V currently requires two thirds of both houses of Congress to propose amendments to the Constitution or two thirds of state legislatures to call for a Constitutional Convention. This latter requirement is so cumbersome, it has never been done. Adoption of an amendment requires ¾ of the states to ratify the amendment. This has only been done 27 times in 250 years.
Article V should be revised to require 55% of either the House or the Senate to propose an amendment or 55% of the state legislatures to call for Constitutional Convention. There should also be a mechanism for a popular vote on amendments. Adoption should be accomplished by either 60% of the states’ legislature ratification or by a referendum by popular vote of 55% or greater.[15]
Statehood Amendment
Residents of Washington, DC, regularly call for enfranchisement through statehood, and federal legislation has been proposed for that purpose. However, the method of adding new states should be eased by changing Article IV, Section 3, clause 1.
Section 3 can be amended to say:
Inhabitants of any Territory belonging to the United States shall, within an initial term of four years, and again at intervals of no greater than ten years, be granted the opportunity to vote to require the United States either to relinquish its claim on such Territory or to admit such Territory into this Union as a new State.
The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States, provided that it guarantees to any Territory a Republican Form of Government and all of the federal constitutional rights of persons enjoyed by citizens of the several States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.[16]
Right to Reproductive Autonomy
The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs to overturn the right of a person to make her own medical decisions is one of the most unpopular acts of constitutional revision that we’ve ever seen. A majority of Americans want to return the right to choose when and whether to have an abortion to women and their families.
The Progressive Constitution Project proposes amending the Sixteenth Amendment to read:
The right of persons in the United States shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex, sexual orientation, performance of sexual or gender identity, sexual preference, or pregnancy, childbirth, and all attendant conditions, including the decision to become pregnant or terminate a pregnancy.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by legislation that is rationally related to the purposes of this Article.[17]
Right to Safety
In 2023, leaders in California proposed a 28th Amendment to end gun violence in the United States.[18] The Right to Safety Amendment. According to Governor Gavin Newsome’s office,
The 28th Amendment will permanently enshrine four broadly supported gun safety principles into the U.S. Constitution:
- Raising the federal minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21;
- Mandating universal background checks to prevent truly dangerous people from purchasing a gun that could be used in a crime;
- Instituting a reasonable waiting period for all gun purchases; and
- Barring civilian purchase of assault weapons that serve no other purpose than to kill as many people as possible in a short amount of time – weapons of war our nation’s founders never foresaw.
Additionally, the 28th Amendment will affirm Congress, states, and local governments can enact additional common-sense gun safety regulations that save lives.[19]
The Strategy
Most political strategist would likely counsel that it is absurd to try to adopt ten constitutional amendments at once, given the poor rate of success in passing even one amendment in the past 35 years.
This critique is small thinking. If the last few months have taught us anything, voters not only tolerate large scale policy changes, but they also would welcome these changes if it meant returning our democracy to the people.
This project is about “moving the Overton window” on what is politically possible.[20] It’s about setting the terms of debate for the 2026 midterm elections and the 2028 presidential election. It’s intended to spark the imaginations of voters who do not believe that the current system works and who want fundamental change.
How? First of all, we do not need any new political organizations to be founded. Existing organizations working on these issues should form a temporary coalition to work on moving all of these proposals forward together.
The coalition should have a two-track approach. First, the midterm elections should be a referendum on Congressional candidates’ willingness to support these amendments. At the same time, activists in all 50 states should be assessing the viability of their legislature calling for a Constitutional convention. States with democratically controlled legislatures would have a package of bills to pass, bringing this issue into public discussion. Other states may have legislative support for some of the amendments individually.
While such a convention would be historically unprecedented, the value of this campaign is to highlight which states and legislators are opposed to democratic reform and to create momentum for the issue in Congress and in the 2028 election. If a significant number of states begin to call for a Convention to adopt any amendments, Congressional leaders might feel pressure to pass the legislation necessary to implement some of these policy goals.
Currently, activists and organizations working on single issues battle for money from interested donors. In this campaign, donors who are sympathetic to all these policy proposals would know that their dollars were stretching further. An alliance or coalition of single issue organizations could pool resources and maximize donation dollars instead of competing with one another for money and volunteers.
Only by working together on a larger project of democratic reform do we have the chance to shape a better future for this country.
~~~
Author Information
Andrea Dooley is a writer and labor arbitrator from Oakland, California. She’s worked in the labor movement as a lawyer and neutral for almost 30 years. She’s an elected delegate to the California State Democratic Party for the 14th Assembly District. In 2008, she oversaw the AFL-CIO Voter Protection effort in Nevada. She has a BA from the University of Chicago, an MA from the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, and a JD from Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Contact: pushback.rebuild@gmail.com
This newsletter will be published as a zine for distribution to political leaders and voters.
The Bureau of Ideas
© 2025 Andrea L. Dooley
[1] The text of the bill can be found at https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-joint-resolution/78/text
[2] https://constitutioncenter.org/news-debate/special-projects/constitution-drafting-project/the-progressive-constitution/the-progressive-constitution-full-text
[3] https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/policy-solutions/supreme-court-term-limits
[4] https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/strengthen-our-courts/federal-courts
[5] https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-joint-resolution/227/text
[6] https://protectdemocracy.org/work/expanding-the-house-of-representatives-explained/
[7] https://casten.house.gov/media/press-releases/casten-introduces-legislation-increase-size-house-and-senate-change-scotus
[8] https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1
[9] https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1/text
[10] https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/gerrymandering-explained
[11] https://www.statista.com/chart/21313/most-gerrymandered-districts-us/?srsltid=AfmBOoqpjKp0bgToYhvYzUsMmwknOcO7JVgI_iSkFtNyY2I6EXxBvYza
[12] https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025/2024-presidential-election-voting-registration-tables.html
[13] https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/06/26/voter-turnout-2020-2024/
[14] https://effectivegov.uchicago.edu/primers/compulsory-voting
[15] I just made these numbers up. Probably someone has a better idea than this; I just couldn’t find it. The Progressive Constitution project does not propose to amend Art V. https://constitutioncenter.org/news-debate/special-projects/constitution-drafting-project/the-progressive-constitution/the-progressive-constitution-full-text
[16] https://constitutioncenter.org/news-debate/special-projects/constitution-drafting-project/the-progressive-constitution/the-progressive-constitution-full-text
[17] https://constitutioncenter.org/news-debate/special-projects/constitution-drafting-project/the-progressive-constitution/the-progressive-constitution-full-text
[18] https://ihpl.llu.edu/blog/call-constitutional-convention-right-safety
[19] https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/06/08/28th-amendment/
[20] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window
