Balancing Stability And Change: How The US, South Africa, And India Amend Their Constitutions
- IJLLR Journal
- Nov 12, 2025
- 1 min read
Dr. Rajeev Kumar Singh, Assistant Professor of Law, Amity Law School, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow Campus
Orcid ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-6751-280X
Academia ID: https://amity.academia.edu/RajeevSingh
Mr. Harsh Jaiswal, LL.M. (Constitutional Law), Amity Law School, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow Campus
ABSTRACT
This research paper undertakes a comparative analysis of constitutional amendment mechanisms in the United States, South Africa, and India to examine how each system balances rigidity and flexibility within its constitutional framework. The study explores the historical foundations, procedural structures, and judicial interpretations that shape amendment powers, revealing how constitutional design reflects deeper political and philosophical commitments. The United States represents a model of deliberate rigidity under Article V, safeguarding stability but constraining adaptability. South Africa’s 1996 Constitution establishes a hybrid system, embedding transformation through graded thresholds and judicial certification under Section 74. India’s Constitution, through Article 368 and the judicially evolved “basic structure doctrine,” achieves controlled flexibility, ensuring that constitutional change remains bounded by fundamental principles. The paper critically evaluates these models to demonstrate that constitutional endurance depends not on immutability but on the capacity to adapt without eroding identity. By situating these frameworks within the broader discourse of constitutionalism, the study emphasizes that effective amendment design must harmonize democratic will, judicial oversight, and constitutional continuity to preserve legitimacy in evolving political contexts.
Keywords: Constitutional Amendment, Rigidity, Flexibility, Basic Structure Doctrine, Comparative Constitutional Law, Judicial Review, Constitutionalism, Constitutional Design.
