As a highly adaptable document, the US Constitution is open to changes and amendments either formal or informal. This is due to the fact that socio-political changes are inevitable overtime. The formal amendment process grounds on proposal and ratification. The Congress may call a national convention or initiate a formal amendment by a two-thirds vote. Following the proposal, a formal amendment is subject to ratification.

In parallel, the constitutional changes are subject to the informal process as a result of changes on the political landscape, judicial interpretation of the Constitution, technological changes, and the initiatives forwarded by policymakers. At that, the most widespread method of initiating the informal processes is the Judicial Review that is an integral component of the Constitution. The incentives regarding informal changes and amendments to the Constitution are also generated by political parties (Besso, 2005).

The concept of informal amendments assumes changes to the US Constitution without changing the text thereof. The ‘informal mode’ supposes the alteration of the meaning of the words though not the order of the wording. Hence, compared to formal amendments, informal amendments have been overwhelmingly applied to change and advancement of the US Constitution. While the socio-political agenda changes over time, as a living document per se, the Constitution needs to pass through the process of informal amendment (Dixon, 2011).

All branches of government deploy the informal process to highlight important constitutional changes as well as their proper interpretation and further implementation. Due process does not intend to amend the Constitution after all. For instance, the informal process takes place when the president is to revise or extend the role of the office by means of executive actions. The president apriori holds an executive privilege allowing him to keep conversations behind closed doors. This is how the Constitution is amended in an informal way. Further, the informal process occurs when Congress is to revise or pass certain legislation regarding the setting speed limits on highways or establishing appellate courts, for example. Finally, informal amendments are the case when the courts interpret the meaning and intent entailed in the Constitution. For instance, the right to remain silent is the law enforcement practice induced by the Supreme Court that proposed informal changes to the Constitution (Lutz, 1994).