“Compensation Amendment” to the United States Constitution

Izabela Kraśnicka, Elżbieta Kużelewska

Abstract


The Constitution of the United States stands out against the background of European constitutions for several reasons. First of all, it is one of the shortest constitutions considering the number of articles. Secondly, it belongs to the rigid constitutions which are hard to amend. Thirdly, any constitutional amendments are not introduced into the constitution, but are placed in the form of numbered amendments. Fourthly, since the adoption of the constitution in 1789, only 27 amendments were introduced. The last one was waiting for the entry into force for 203 years. The last amendment concerns the ban on changes in the congressman compensation during the termof-office. Considering its historical context, the “compensation amendment” provides the most interesting insights into the American constitutional amendment process.


Keywords


amendment, compensation, United States Constitution

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/teka.2018.13.1.85-95
Date of publication: 2018-12-19 11:40:42
Date of submission: 2018-12-19 10:45:21


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