<P> To become part of the Constitution, an amendment must be ratified by either--as determined by Congress--the legislatures of three - fourths (presently 38) of the states or State ratifying conventions in three - fourths of the states . Thirty - three amendments to the United States Constitution have been approved by Congress and sent to the states for ratification . Twenty - seven of these amendments have been ratified and are now part of the Constitution . As of 2017, the convention process has never been used for proposing constitutional amendments . </P> <P> While there have been calls for an "Article V Convention" based on a single issue such as the balanced budget amendment, it is not clear whether a convention summoned in this way would be legally bound to limit discussion to a single issue; law professor Michael Stokes Paulsen has suggested that such a convention would have the "power to propose anything it sees fit", whereas law professor Michael Rappaport and attorney - at - law Robert Kelly believe that a limited convention is possible . </P> <P> In recent years some have argued that state governments should call for such a convention . They include Michael Farris, Lawrence Lessig, Sanford Levinson, Larry Sabato, Jonathan Turley, and Mark Levin . In 2015, Citizens for Self - Governance launched a nationwide effort to call an Article V Convention, through a project called Convention of the States, in a bid to rein in the federal government . As of 2017, CSG's resolution has passed in 12 states . Similarly, the group Wolf PAC chose this method to promote its cause, which is to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC . Their resolution has passed in five states . </P> <P> Eight state constitutions in effect at the time the 1787 Constitutional Convention convened in Philadelphia included an amendment mechanism . Amendment - making power rested with the legislature in three of the states and in the other five it was given to specially elected conventions . The Articles of Confederation provided that amendments were to be proposed by Congress and ratified by the unanimous vote of all thirteen state legislatures . This proved to be a major flaw in the Articles, as it created an insurmountable obstacle to constitutional reform . The amendment process crafted during the Constitutional Convention, James Madison later wrote in The Federalist No. 43, was designed to establish a balance between pliancy and rigidity: </P>

How many states have passed convention of the states