Research on a constitutional amendment petition

The National Constitutional Amendment Petition, proposed by Representative Kim Seong-hoe on July 16th as part of the Constitutional Amendment Procedure Act, is significant in that it can reflect the public's opinion at the pre-introduction stage of the constitutional amendment proposal. However, the National Constitutional Amendment Petition requires a massive quorum of over 500,000 signatures, giving rise to the following problems: First, individuals and small groups are excluded practically from petitioning for constitutional amendments. Second, the success of a constitutional amendment petition may be swayed by funding. Third, it could fall prey to populism driven by demagoguery. To overcome these problems, we propose a grassroots roundtable constitutional amendment petition. A grassroots roundtable is an autonomous organization that can be freely formed by at least 5 citizens who have addresses or ties to the same community. A unique characteristic of a grassroots roundtable's constitutional amendment petition is that it must undergo a step-by-step review process, including a review process by local councils. The procedure for a grassroots roundtable constitutional amendment petition is outlined below. A grassroots roundtable seeking to propose a constitutional amendment submits a constitutional amendment petition to the local autonomous council. If the local autonomous council adopts the petition, it is submitted to the local council. If the local council approves the petition, it is submitted to the metropolitan council. If the metropolitan council approves the petition, it is submitted to the Special Committee on Constitutional Amendment. If the Special Committee considers the petition well-founded, it is incorporated into the proposed constitutional amendment. The constitutional amendment petition by a grassroots roundtable offers the following advantages over National Constitutional Amendment Petitions: First, it effectively guarantees the right of individuals and small groups to petition for constitutional amendments. Second, it restrains populism through a step-by-step review process. Third, it opens a community-centered forum for constitutional amendments, promoting the participation of the public and addressing daily life issues.