Article V Guide for Citizens and Citizen-Legislators

For more than sixty years, The John Birch Society has sounded the alarm: America does not need a new constitutional convention — it needs enforcement of the one we already have. In Article V Guide for Citizens and Citizen-Legislators, Dr. Joe Wolverton, II, J.D. continues that mission with force and precision.

Wolverton dismantles the case for a convention with evidence pulled straight from the historical record. He shows how today’s activists recycle promises that collapse under scrutiny: claims that a new amendment will restrain corrupt politicians, balance budgets, or force accountability where none exists. Yet, as Wolverton demonstrates, these arguments are as empty as adding a line to wedding vows to prevent divorce. The problem is not the Constitution. The problem is vow breakers — politicians, judges, and bureaucrats who ignore the limits already written and the oaths they already swore.

Drawing on the warnings of Montesquieu and the counsel of Madison, Wolverton reminds readers that power always seeks expansion, and paper barriers are worthless unless backed by vigilance and enforcement. That vigilance is possible only through federalism, the Tenth Amendment, and the courage of states and citizens to resist encroachments. Adding new clauses or calling risky conventions, he argues, is not only futile but reckless — the cure worse than the disease.

This book is both a primer and a call to action. It equips legislators wrestling with convention proposals, patriots guarding constitutional checks, and skeptics on the fence. With sharp analogies, fresh analysis, and undeniable facts, Wolverton restores perspective: America’s Constitution is not the problem. Abandoning it for experiments in revision is. The rightful remedy has been here all along. (2024ed, 104pp, pb)