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relied upon the good faith of Congress for the observance of this requirement.
Once an amendment has been proposed, it must be ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the States or by a special convention of threefourths of the States. Congress decides which method of ratification is to
be used. Except for the Twenty-First Amendment, which repealed the
Eighteenth, every amendment has been ratified by the State legislatures.
From the foregoing discussion, it may be seen that the States occupy a
commanding position respecting the amendment process. They have the
final say on whether the Constitution shall be amended. In this respect,
they exercise sovereignty over the nation. This not only affords them an
opportunity to protect their interests, but also serves as an ultimate check
on the powers of the Federal government. Some amendments, in fact,
have nullified decisions of the Supreme Court. For these reasons Article
V of the Constitution is regarded as the arch of federalism—the provision that strengthens the States and protects them from being swallowed
up by the Federal government. The American republic is a democratic
republic because it is based on government by the people. But the people
govern through their States, not en masse. In this sense they share sovereignty with the States. The American republic is therefore both a democratic republic and a federal republic.
The Federalism Factor
Upon close examination, it will be seen that the entire Constitution is
actually honeycombed with provisions designed to protect the residual
sovereignty and interests of the States and to give them influence in the
decision-making process at the national level. To measure the federalism
factor, it is necessary not only to analyze the powers specifically granted
and denied to the national government, but to be mindful of those that
are by implication reserved to the States—to ‘‘read between the lines,’’ as
the saying goes.
Article III of the Constitution defines the judicial power of the United
States, which extends to nine classes of cases and controversies under
Section 2 of that Article. Those classes of cases that are not specified are,
by implication, left for resolution by the State tribunals. Section 2, for ex-