A change in the actual wording of the Constitution. Proposed by Congress or national convention, and ratified by the states.

• A. Formal Amendment
• B. Hyperpluralism
• C. Elastic Clause
• D. Enumerated Powers

Answer: (A)

Changing the actual wording of the Constitution is about formal amendments. The U.S. Constitution allows this only through a defined two-stage process: proposal and ratification. A proposal can come from two-thirds of both houses of Congress or from a national convention called by two-thirds of the states. After that, three-fourths of the states must ratify the change, either through state legislatures or through specially convened ratifying conventions. This mechanism is the official way to alter the text, not simply to reinterpret it.

The other ideas refer to different concepts. Hyperpluralism is a theory about how many interest groups can influence policy; the Elastic Clause (also known as the Necessary and Proper Clause) grants Congress flexibility to pass laws needed to carry out its powers, but it does not involve changing the Constitution’s wording. Enumerated powers are the list of powers expressly granted to Congress; they describe what Congress may do, not how to amend the document.