28th Amendment

The power of the people to dictate their military forces should not be obstructed. The president and Congress shall not have the power to declare war, or take military action against or for, any other country, people, concept, or organization without the approval of the Citizens of the United States. They shall decide on a specific goal to be completed with regards to the attackers. This objective may not be altered or changed after it is voted upon and the military forces go beyond the objective set out by Congress. Approval shall be granted through the public voting by all voting citizens. The sole exception to this is when external forces physically attack on United States soil, then the Congress may use military force or declare war on the attackers.

1)   Explain what your proposed amendment will do in detail.

a.     The amendment will prevent any wars that are unwanted by the US people from being started by Congress.

2)   Explain why you believe it is needed and how the US will benefit if it is ratified.

a.     Oftentimes wars or missions are started by the military without general support by the people. Not only is this wrong, as the government should do as the people please, it is prohibitively expensive. This would prevent billions of dollars that we don’t have from being spent.

3)   Indicate what opposition you expect there to be to your amendment and why. Address what type of citizens would oppose your amendment.

a.     Opponents would argue that this system could be slow. It very well could take longer than usual to declare war. It would force the public to think more about what wars they enter, as they would directly be influencing it. Some may argue the public doesn’t have enough information or a clear understanding of the situation, thus influencing them and creating a possibly bad choice. Any politicians who desire quick action would oppose my amendment. It would also limit the power of Congress and change Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the constitution, so many would be resistant to essentially changing, not just adding to, the constitution.

4)   Suggest arguments that could be used to reply to criticism of your amendment.

a.     My main argument is that if this amendment was put into place, it would force the politicians to stew on the decision for longer. It would also help prevent higher-ups from withholding or disguising information from the public, as each politician would want to sway the voters using different inforsmation depending on the side. It would also force the public to take more responsibility for the effects of war because they would almost always be directly involved in the decision process.