To ratify a constitutional amendment, approval must come from what percentage of states?

To ratify a constitutional amendment, approval is required from three-fourths of the states, which translates to 38 out of 50 states in the current United States. This requirement is established in Article V of the U.S. Constitution, which outlines the process for amending the Constitution. The rationale behind needing a higher threshold, rather than a simple majority, is to ensure that amendments reflect a broad consensus among the states, thus maintaining stability and integrity within the Constitution.

Approval from a simple majority or half of the states wouldn't provide sufficient assurance that an amendment has widespread support, while requiring unanimous consent from all states would be unrealistic, given the diversity of opinions across the nation. Therefore, the three-fourths requirement strikes a balance between these extremes, ensuring that any amendment has substantial backing before being adopted.