When it was ratified in 1789, the U.S. Constitution didn't just institute a government by the people.
当美国宪法在1789年被通过时，它不仅成立了一个被人民选出的政府。
It provided a way for the people to alter the constitution itself.
它还保证了人民拥有修改宪法的办法。
And yet, of the nearly 11,000 amendments proposed in the centuries since, only 27 have succeeded as of 2016.
但是，从建国到2016年的这几个世纪里，11000条修订草案中只有27条被成功录用。
So what is it that makes the Constitution so hard to change? In short, its creators.
所以，为什么宪法如此难以改变呢？简单来说：宪法的创建者。
The founders of the United States were trying to create a unified country from thirteen different colonies,
美利坚的国父们要将十三个殖民地联合成一个合众国，
which needed assurance that their agreements couldn't be easily undone. So here's what they decided.
为此，他们需要确认他们的决定不会被轻易更改。这些是他们决定的。
For an amendment to even be proposed, it must receive a two-thirds vote of approval in both houses of Congress,
一个修正草案想要被提议，它在众议院和参议院中必须得到三分之二的投票，
or a request from two-thirds of state legislatures to call a national convention, and that's just the first step.
或是赢得全国三分之二的州提议，从而促成一个全国会议，这只是第一步。
To actually change the Constitution, the amendment must be ratified by three-quarters of all states.
要到改变宪法这一步，修正案必须被四分之三的州同意。
To do this, each state can either have its legislature vote on the amendment,
每个州可以让它的制法人员来对修正法案进行投票，
or it can hold a separate ratification convention with delegates elected by voters.
也可以召集由投票者选出的众议院议员举行多个会议来通过。
The result of such high thresholds is that, today, the American Constitution is quite static.
正因为有了如此高的门槛，今天的美国宪法十分的稳定。
Most other democracies pass amendments every couple of years.
世界上大多民主国家每几年就会通过一项修正案。
The U.S., on the other hand, hasn't passed one since 1992.
但在就美国来说，1992年以来就没有这样的记录。
At this point, you may wonder how any amendments managed to pass at all.
说到这里，你可能开始好奇到底有多少条修正草案被通过。
The first ten, known as the Bill of Rights,
前十条，被熟知为《权力法案》，
includes some of America's most well-known freedoms, such as the freedom of speech, and the right to a fair trial.
囊括了美国几条最有名的“自由”权力，比如说言论自由以及受到公平审判权。
These were passed all at once to resolve some conflicts from the original Constitutional Convention.
这些都是一起通过的，为的是解决制宪会议出现的一些分歧。
Years later, the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery,
很多年以后，第十三修正案废除了奴隶制，
as well as the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, only passed after a bloody civil war.
第十四和第十五条相继在残酷的内战后被通过。
Ratifying amendments has also become harder as the country has grown larger and more diverse.
修改修正案随着国家的扩大以及多样性，变得愈加困难。

The first ever proposed amendment, a formula to assign congressional representatives,
第一个被提议的修正草案是关于任命国会众议员的方法，
was on the verge of ratification in the 1790s.
在18世纪90年代时就开始讨论是否要通过。
However, as more and more states joined the union,
但是随着越来越多的州加入合众国，
the number needed to reach the three-quarter mark increased as well, leaving it unratified to this day.
需要数量达到三分之二的基数也变大，导致其到今日还未被通过。
Today, there are many suggested amendments,
如今，有很多被建议的修正草案，
including outlawing the burning of the flag, limiting congressional terms, or even repealing the Second Amendment.
包括将焚烧国旗变得非法，执政者的期时减少或是废除第二修正案（持枪权）。
While many enjoy strong support, their likelihood of passing is slim.
虽然很多人支持这些提议，但是通过的可能性非常小。
Americans today are the most politically polarized since the Civil War,
如今的美国，是自内战以来，政治观点最两级分化的，
making it nearly impossible to reach a broad consensus.
这使得国家很难达成一致的看法。
In fact, the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia
其实，前一任最高法院法官安东宁·斯卡利亚，
once calculated that due to America's representative system of government,
曾计算过在美国现有的政府代表系统下，
it could take as little as 2% of the total population to block an amendment.
只要百分之二的人口就可以阻止一条修正法案的通过。
Of course, the simplest solution would be to make the Constitution easier to amend
当然，解决这个问题的最好方法是将宪法变得容易更改些，
by lowering the thresholds required for proposal and ratification.
将限制更改或是提议的条款减少。
That, however, would require its own amendment.
但是这又需要立一个新的修正草案。
Instead, historical progress has mainly come from the U.S. Supreme Court,
其实，历史性的改变与进步大多归功于美国的最高法院，
which has expanded its interpretation of existing constitutional laws to keep up with the times.
它的势力已扩大到可以介入美国已有的宪法，使其紧随时代的变迁。
Considering that Supreme Court justices are unelected and serve for life once appointed,
但是，最高法院的法官并非是选举出的，并且是终身任命制，
this is far from the most democratic option.
这又与所谓的民主相差甚远。
Interestingly, the founders themselves may have foreseen this problem early on.
有趣的是，美国的国父自己也许也遇见到了这个问题。
In a letter to James Madison,
在一封写给詹姆斯·麦迪逊的信中，
Thomas Jefferson wrote that laws should expire every 19 years rather than having to be changed or repealed
托马斯·杰斐逊写到法律应该每19年就更换，不要使法律需要人们去改变和废除它，
since every political process is full of obstacles that distort the will of the people.
因为每一个政治过程都会遇到很多对立于人民的意愿的阻碍。
Although he believed that the basic principles of the Constitution would endure,
虽然他相信宪法的基本条款会将永存，
he stressed that the Earth belongs to the living, and not to the dead.
他更强调了世界是属于当代的人们，并非逝者。