This is a little weird, but bear with me. Article V of the US Constitution outlines how the Constitution itself can be amended. Here's the original text. [quote]The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, also as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate[/quote] In essence, amendments can be made in the following ways. [quote]Step One (pre-ratification): [u]Amendments may be adopted and sent to the states for ratification by either[/u]: A) Two-thirds (supermajority) of both the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States Congress; OR B) By a national convention assembled at the request of the legislatures of at least two-thirds (at present 34) of the states. Step Two (ratification): [u]To become part of the Constitution, an amendment must be ratified by either (as determined by Congress)[/u]: The legislatures of three-fourths (at present 38) of the states; OR State ratifying conventions in three-fourths (at present 38) of the states.[/quote] So far, ALL amendments (even The Bill of Rights, amendments 1-10 which were passed as part of the original Constitution) have gone through option A of step-one in order to become amendments. The Michigan legislature recently voted to convene an Article V convention. This makes them the 34th state to do so, reaching the two-thirds threshold as outlined in option B of step-one. Depending on your math (some states have "rescinded" their call, some scholars say that once asked for, the call for a convention can not be reversed, only resolved via the convention) this means that it is conceivably possible that the States may be flexing their muscles (as the Constitution allows them to do) in order to address items that a central federalized government is unwilling or unable to address. Right now, it's up for argument, exploration, debate and likely will go to the courts for a determination of how/what will come of this, but it is an interesting twist and little known aspect of Constitutional Law and process. As [url=http://hotair.com/archives/2014/04/02/did-michigan-trigger-a-constitutional-convention/]this review of an article on the news story[/url] summarizes, "It’s more likely that nothing would come of it, rather than anything revolutionary. Still, it’s an interesting debate, if still a bit academic at the moment. We’ll see what Congress thinks of the count, and see whether it ends up going through the judiciary." Pretty esoteric stuff, I know. But I am always fascinated by the twists and turns that come from following and interpreting this 200+ year old framework.