Our country was founded upon the Constitution that still stands today, but not without change over the years. This proves that our government can survive economic strife and other challenges by changing ways. An amendment can be added in a formal or informal way, however, amendments are most commonly added informally.
Article V of the constitution has a formal process written out. It is a two step process including a proposal and ratification stage. The proposal stage requires a two-thirds vote in each house of Congress with two-thirds of the state legislatures. Ratification requires a vote of three-fourth by the states. Another method is through a Constitutional Convention called by two-thirds of the states. The amendment needs a vote of, again, three-fourths of the states to be ratified.
Changing the constitution can be done informally as well. The elastic clause allows the government to change the constitution if it is "necessary and proper" for the time being. The air force was created with this because all the constitution allowed was an army and military, but an air force was necessary so the constitution was changed informally. Executive Action is also an informal change. The president can change or add a constitutional amendment if need be during a crisis, such as adding nuclear allowances during a war.
Informal change is used most commonly because it is a quicker way of change. Most changes are necessary because of something currently happening, which makes it an urgent matter that must be dealt with quickly. Using an amendment already created and changing it to suit a need is much quicker than having to formally draft and ratify an amendment.
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