Amending the U.S. constitution ie even more difficult. The most common procedure requires the approval of two - thirds of both the Senate and the House of Representives, then ratification by three - fourths of the state legislatures. The fact that our Constitution has been amended only 17 time since the adoption of the bill of Right in 1791 illustrates how difficult the amendment procedure is. ( The last, the Twenty - Seventh Amendment of 1992, specified no congressional pay raises without an election in between.) The Equal Rights Amendment failed to pass in 1983 because fewer than three - fourths of the state legislatures voted to ratify it. Japan also requires two - thirds of each house plus a majority in a referendum. The prime minister in 2013 proposed lowering the two - thirds to simple majority in both houses, Plus the referendum. This was controversial throughout Asia because it would make it easier to drop Article9 , by which Japan renounces the right to go to war