the founders even put checks and balances on the legislative branch's powers. if congress gets too powerful, the states can make it call a constitutional convention. if the states get too powerful, ordinary americans can vote on a constitutional amendment through ratifying conventions. as a legal scholar wrote later: "the ratification of the twenty-first amendment [by ratifying conventions] might be called one of the most democratic moments in american history. ... almost all voters in america had the unprecedented opportunity to [support] or condemn a federal constitutional amendment directly. ... the conventions ratified the choices of the people without fail."pp. 27–28