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Since the original framing of the Constitution in 1789, there has been over 10,000
attempts to amend this revered document. Of those attempts, only 27 have actually been
ratified by the states and thus successfully amended the Constitution. In spite of the
staggering statistics against the passing of an amendment, it is quite evident that some do
in fact pass. Ultimately, amending the Constitution comes down to the sentiments of the
Therefore, a constitutional ban on gay marriage can succeed so long as there is adequate
proposed and further ratified. There are four such routes that an amendment can take
(Lowi, 64). Amendments are proposed and are either passed through the House and
petitions from two-thirds of the states (Lowi, 65). Both of these processes occur on the
national level. There is a great deal of compromise and cooperation in order to get an
two processes on the state level. For an amendment to be ratified into the Constitution, it
must be accepted by three-fourths of the states in the union (Lowi, 65). This can be
achieved through majority vote in state legislatures or assembling conventions for the
purpose of ratifying the Constitution (Lowi, 65). These are tough stipulations, because
they require concurrence from people all over the country. This ability to work towards a
perish. Collective action is depicted here in a largely macro perspective. The two
chambers that make up Congress, the House and Senate, both need to work collectively
and coordinate their efforts to get two-thirds of both their chambers to agree.
Furthermore, the states, 38 out of 50 of them at minimum, have to also find a way to be in
agreement. This seems like an enormous task, but with adequate collective action, the
There is also a great deal of collective action that needs to occur within the chambers of
number of means. Collective action is the key ingredient needed in order for it to
special interest groups can write an amendment and propose it to their Congressman
(Lowi, 162). The Congressman takes part in collective action immediately in this case.
He or she can either throw the amendment out or begin to coordinate his efforts along
with those of his constituents to achieve a common goal. The Congressman can now
present the amendment to fellow members of his respective chamber, and here too
collective action plays a pivotal role in the success or failure of the amendment. The
process of getting more and more people to support an action will continue until the effort
is thwarted due to a lack of collective action or too much collective action in the opposing
direction.
Collective action also takes place in each respective chamber of Congress due to
the structure and procedures that occur in the House and Senate. In the House, the
Tyrone Schiff
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speaker of the House possesses a great deal of power, because he or she is in charge of
setting the agenda. If the current speaker of the House chooses not to discuss a potential
amendment regarding the banning of gay marriage, the effort would fail based on this
single collective action problem. In the Senate, similarly, the majority and minority
leaders are in charge of “the Senate’s calendar, or agenda for legislation” (Lowi, 181).
Without a conscious effort to work with others to achieve a common goal, amendments in
both the House and Senate can die based on the decisions of few. Collective action is the
It is easy to note just how important the role of collective action is in trying to get
occurs with no problems, it can occur and therefore a ban on gay marriage can succeed so
long as there is sufficient collective action driving it. If the country really wanted to pass
an amendment that made everyone wear green shirts on Wednesdays it could be done
with enough collective action supporting it. The ratification process of an amendment has
been set up in such a way that changes to the Constitution can be made, but only if there
is ample agreement by a vast majority of the country on a state and national level. Any
groups, and Congressmen and women to support its passage via the use of collective
action.