United States Constitution

The 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is unique not only because it is the latest amendment to be ratified, but because it underwent the longest ratification process in American history. It was first proposed over 200 years before its eventual ratification, when renewed interest in it reinitialized a process that had become stalled when it was originally sent to the states all those years ago. Finally, in 1992, the amendment was ratified. This amendment is designed to minimize possible corruption in Congress. According to the Constitution, Congress is responsible for giving itself raises. Obviously this raises potential conflicts of interest. Thus, the 27th Amendment prevents any raise from going into effect until after the next election. In other words, if members of Congress vote to increase the salaries of members of Congress, the raise isn’t actually implemented until after the Congresspeople are up for reelection. This allows them to be accountable for potential misadministration of their compensation.