Why We Must Pass A Constitutional Amendment

We must pass a constitutional amendment to get big money out of politics because poorly reasoned Supreme Court decisions like Buckley v. Valeo and Citizens United are the primary reason big money has flooded our political system at unprecedented levels. No constitutional amendment can make every change we want on its own, but we cannot get big money out of politics without a constitutional amendment.

An amendment has become necessary because the Supreme Court is the final arbiter of our campaign finance laws, so when they issue a bad decision, we cannot pass new laws to change it. That doesn’t leave us with many options, but we cannot just sit idly by and wait for the Supreme Court to change its mind because that may take years, even decades. And even if the Supreme Court issues good campaign finance decisions, there is no assurance that the Court won’t change its mind again later.

Fortunately our Founding Fathers gave us a tool we can use to overturn problematic Supreme Court decisions and enshrine important values in our Constitution–the constitutional amendment! By passing a constitutional amendment we can effectively overturn the Supreme Court’s mistakes for good and lay the groundwork for even greater campaign finance reforms like publicly financed elections.

Though passing a constitutional amendment may sound like an almost unprecedented step, nearly every generation of Americans except ours has done it! We are the only ones who haven’t used this valuable tool and it’s time for us to get to work because the fate of our democracy is too important to leave in limbo. That’s why Citizens Take Action proudly supports the Restore Democracy Amendment!

Why We Must Pass The Restore Democracy Amendment

The Restore Democracy Amendment was carefully crafted to shift the balance of power from nine unelected judges on the Supreme Court back to We The People so that we can enact necessary campaign finance reforms, including limits on spending by ultra-wealthy individuals, corporations, and unions. You can read the full text of the amendment along with a detailed explanation here so you understand exactly what the amendment will accomplish and why we believe it is the best amendment proposal.

How We Can Pass The Restore Democracy Amendment

There are two ways to pass a constitutional amendment:

1) An amendment may be proposed by Congress and ratified by three fourths of the states (38 states) or…

2) An amendment may be proposed at a constitutional convention called by two thirds of the states (34 states) and ratified by three fourths of the states (38 states).

Citizens Take Action is pursuing the first path because that is how every previous amendment in history has been added to the constitution and because thus far, there is much more support for an amendment in Congress than there is for a constitutional convention called by state legislatures. For more details on why we chose this approach, visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Getting enough support in Congress to pass an amendment requires us to be focused and persistent. We must put enough pressure on our elected officials so that they know they must make passing an amendment a priority. We must build support at the local and state level as well. By working to pass the Restore Democracy Amendment in Congress and building support at the local and state level, we can create the coordinated campaign necessary to succeed!

Why We Need Your Help

But whether or not we succeed depends entirely on us. That’s why we need your help. The only chance we have to pass the Restore Democracy Amendment is for citizens like YOU, yes YOU reading this right now, to get actively involved in our campaign, either as a volunteer, donor, or both. To sign up as a volunteer, please fill out the form on our volunteer page and someone from our team will get back to you shortly. To support our work with a donation, please visit our donation page. We are especially grateful for our monthly donors because they give us a consistent base of support!

Don’t sit on the sidelines. If you want big money out of politics, take action, and help us restore government of, by, and for the people!