The Conditions For Amending The Constitution

Since the United States established the first written constitution at the Philadelphia Conference in 1789,the conflict between the stability of constitutional norms and the continuous development of social reality has already existed.Many thinkers and jurisprudential scholars have tried their best to find a balance for this conflict.Amending the constitution can help relieve this conflict,which is also the role of the amending constitution.But,as the supreme law of a country,the stability of the constitution itself is also very important.Frequency of amending the constitution will shake the foundation of constitutionalism and is also the constitution's suicidal behavior.Therefore,amending the constitution must meet some certain conditions,because this is crucial to maintaining the constitutional authority and lasting vitality.Considering the background of the supervisory commissions established in 2016 and amending the constitution in 2018,this dissertation reviews the previous researches of scholars,and comprehensively analyzes the conditions of amending the constitution must meet.First of all,this paper makes a definition of the condition of amending the constitution,and at the same time,it clarifies the differences and links between the condition of amending the constitution and related concepts.;secondly,it discusses why theory of constraints and amending power constitutes prerequisites for amending the constitution;thirdly analyzing the sufficient conditions,it is social consensus and constitutional moments;and lastly considering the practice of constitutional government of countries,we explain the influence of political parties;on this basis,the conditions for amending the constitution were established,and linked to the practice of constitutional government of China.This dissertation believes the concept of the conditions for amending the constitution is the external factors that restrict and influence the existence and development of the Constitution.Theory of constraints involves many important theories such as popular sovereignty,core of the constitution,amending power and so on.These theories directly affect the establishment of the conditions.Theory of constraints aims to ensure that core of the constitution is not abandoned,and amending the constitution cannot touch core of the constitution.So this theory constitutes a precondition for condition for amending the constitution.Amending the constitution is an act of exercising sovereignty,such sovereignty is a procedural power under the constitutional framework-the right to amend the constitution named amending power.Owning amending power is also a precondition for obtaining legitimacy of amending the constitution.Constitutional moments mean a major moment of reconstructing the state order.At this moment,amending or establishing the constitution is needed to ease the constitutional crisis,and constitutional moments is a sufficient condition for amending the constitution.The social consensus that led to the advent of the constitution has highlighted the strong appeal of the society to amend the Constitution,and also constitutes a sufficient condition.The support of political parties and parliaments in constitutional practice is an important factor for success of amending the constitution,which are necessary conditions.On the whole,the conditions for constitutional amendment can be classified into three parts:the first part is the precondition involving amending power and theory of constraints;the second part is the sufficient conditions involving constitutional moments and social consensus;the third part is the necessary conditions involving the support of political parties and parliaments.Prerequisites are necessary to initiate amending the constitution;sufficient conditions strengthen the legitimacy;and the necessary conditions determine the success of amending the constitution.The conditions of amending the constitution run through all previous practice of amending the constitution of China and play different roles.