There are two major steps in the amendment process. First, amendments must be proposed. Amendments can be proposed in two different ways. An amendment can be proposed by the Congress if two-thirds of the members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate vote in favor of it. Alternatively, two-thirds of the legislatures of the fifty states can call for a constitutional convention for the purposes of proposing amendments to the Constitution. Since the Constitution was ratified in 1789, numerous amendments to the Constitution have been proposed by the Congress, but the states have never voted to call for a new constitutional convention.

Once an amendment to the Constitution has been proposed, it must be ratified to become "valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of [the] Constitution." Article V specifies two methods by which proposed amendments can be ratified. First, an amendment can be ratified if three-fourths of the legislatures of the several states vote in support of it. Alternatively, the Congress can direct the states to establish special ratifying conventions to consider proposed amendments. If three-fourths of these conventions approve the amendment, it is ratified and becomes part of the Constitution.