Hardest and easiest national constitutions to amend
Difficulty score based on easiest pathway, as specified in constitution
Note: When a constitution specifies more than one amendment process, the “difficulty of amendment” scores represent the least difficult process. Data is based on the 106 countries we classify as democracies and includes some fully self-governing territories whose sovereign status is disputed.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis using scoring system based on “Toward a Theory of Constitutional Amendment” by Donald S. Lutz (American Political Science Review, June 1994).
PEW RESEARCH CENTER
Hardest and easiest national constitutions to amend
Difficulty score based on easiest pathway, as specified in constitution
| Democracy | Difficulty of amendment |
|---|---|
| Micronesia, Federated States | 6.00 |
| United States | 5.10 |
| Switzerland | 4.75 |
| Australia | 4.65 |
| Palau | 4.50 |
| Fiji | 3.80 |
| Costa Rica | 3.65 |
| Liberia | 3.60 |
| Romania | 3.35 |
| Grenada | 3.30 |
| Philippines | 3.30 |
| Marshall Islands | 3.25 |
| Belgium | 3.10 |
| Japan | 3.10 |
| Netherlands | 3.10 |
| Paraguay | 3.00 |
| Taiwan* | 2.90 |
| Brazil | 0.90 |
| Denmark | 2.75 |
| Northern Cyprus | 2.55 |
| South Korea | 2.55 |
| Ireland | 2.50 |
| Bolivia | 2.40 |
| Andorra | 2.55 |
| Ecuador | 2.30 |
| Liechtenstein | 2.30 |
| Colombia | 2.25 |
| Italy | 2.25 |
| North Macedonia | 2.25 |
| Greece | 2.20 |
| Argentina | 2.10 |
| Nepal | 2.10 |
| Lithuania | 2.00 |
| Montenegro | 2.00 |
| Peru | 2.00 |
| Dominican Republic | 1.80 |
| Chile | 1.75 |
| Ghana | 1.75 |
| Luxembourg | 1.75 |
| Solomon Islands | 1.75 |
| Uruguay | 1.75 |
| Poland | 1.70 |
| Estonia | 1.65 |
| Germany | 1.60 |
| India | 1.60 |
| Namibia | 1.60 |
| Finland | 1.55 |
| Croatia | 1.45 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 1.30 |
| Monaco | 1.30 |
| South Africa | 1.30 |
| St. Lucia | 1.30 |
| Czech Republic | 1.25 |
| Iceland | 1.25 |
| Jamaica | 1.25 |
| Spain | 1.25 |
| Bulgaria | 2.00 |
| Guyana | 1.15 |
| Lesotho | 1.15 |
| Senegal | 1.15 |
| Albania | 1.05 |
| Armenia | 1.05 |
| Kosovo | 1.55 |
| Moldova | 1.55 |
| Slovenia | 1.05 |
| Bahamas | 1.00 |
| Barbados | 1.00 |
| Botswana | 1.00 |
| Malaysia | 1.00 |
| Tonga | 1.00 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 1.00 |
| Bhutan | 0.90 |
| France | 0.90 |
| Mongolia | 0.90 |
| Panama | 0.90 |
| Austria | 0.80 |
| Belize | 0.80 |
| Cape Verde | 0.80 |
| Cyprus | 0.80 |
| Dominica | 0.80 |
| East Timor | 0.80 |
| Hungary | 0.80 |
| Kiribati | 0.80 |
| Latvia | 0.80 |
| Malawi | 0.80 |
| Mauritius | 0.80 |
| Nauru | 0.80 |
| Norway | 0.80 |
| Portugal | 0.80 |
| Samoa | 0.80 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | 0.80 |
| Seychelles | 0.80 |
| Sri Lanka | 0.80 |
| St. Kitts and Nevis | 0.80 |
| St. Vincent and the Grenadines | 0.80 |
| Suriname | 0.80 |
| Tuvalu | 0.80 |
| Vanuatu | 0.80 |
| Sweden** | 0.75 |
| Malta | 0.65 |
| Slovakia | 0.65 |
* The data in the table refers to the “Additional Articles of the Constitution,” which effectively rewrote the old 1947 Republic of China constitution.
** Although Sweden’s constitution formally consists of four “fundamental laws,” the data in the table refers specifically to the Instrument of Government, which contains most of the basic principles of government. However, the difficulty of amendment score applies to all four fundamental laws.
Note: When a constitution specifies more than one amendment process, the “difficulty of amendment” scores represent the least difficult process. Data is based on the 106 countries we classify as democracies and includes some fully self-governing territories whose sovereign status is disputed.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis using scoring system based on “Toward a Theory of Constitutional Amendment” by Donald S. Lutz (American Political Science Review, June 1994).
PEW RESEARCH CENTER
