The Sixteenth Amendment (ratified 1913) gave Congress the power to levy a federal income tax, directly overriding the Supreme Court's Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust (1895) decision. In AP Gov, it's the go-to example of using constitutional amendment ratification to check the judicial branch (Topic 2.11).
The Sixteenth Amendment, ratified in 1913, says Congress can "lay and collect taxes on incomes" without dividing the tax burden among the states by population. Why did the country need an amendment for that? Because in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. (1895), the Supreme Court struck down a federal income tax as unconstitutional. Congress and the states couldn't just pass a new law (the Court would strike it down again), so they changed the Constitution itself.
For AP Gov, the tax policy details matter less than what the amendment represents. When the Supreme Court interprets the Constitution, its ruling is final under that Constitution. But the people, through Congress and the states, can rewrite the rulebook. The Sixteenth Amendment is the textbook case of the amendment process erasing a Supreme Court decision, which is exactly the check the CED lists in Topic 2.11.
This term lives in Unit 2: Interactions Among Branches of Government, specifically Topic 2.11 (Checks on the Judicial Branch). Learning objective AP Gov 2.11.B asks you to explain how the other branches can limit the Supreme Court's power, and the essential knowledge lists "ratification of a Constitutional amendment" as one of the formal restrictions on the Court. The Sixteenth Amendment is the cleanest real-world example of that check in action. It also feeds the 2.11.A debate over judicial review. Marbury v. Madison gave the Court the power to strike down laws, but the Sixteenth Amendment proves that power isn't absolute. If the country disagrees strongly enough with a ruling, it can amend the ruling out of existence. That's the kind of cause-and-effect reasoning Unit 2 questions reward.
Keep studying AP® Gov Unit 2
Checks and Balances (Unit 1)
The Sixteenth Amendment is checks and balances running in reverse. Usually you learn how the Court checks Congress through judicial review. Here, Congress and the states checked the Court by amending the Constitution out from under its ruling.
Franklin Roosevelt's court-packing plan (Unit 2)
Both are responses to a Supreme Court that blocked policy goals, but they're opposite strategies. The Sixteenth Amendment used the formal, legitimate amendment process. FDR's plan tried to change who sits on the Court, and it failed partly because it looked like an attack on judicial independence.
Confirmation Process (Unit 2)
Amendment ratification and judicial appointments are both 2.11.B checks, but they work on different timescales. Appointments slowly shift the Court's ideology over years; an amendment overrides a specific decision immediately and permanently.
Brown v. Board of Education (Unit 3)
Brown shows the flip side of the checks list. After Brown, states delayed implementation of a ruling they opposed (another 2.11.B check). The Sixteenth Amendment shows the formal route; Southern resistance to Brown shows the informal one.
This shows up in multiple-choice questions about Topic 2.11, almost always paired with the Pollock decision. Typical stems ask you to match a Supreme Court ruling with the amendment ratified to counter it, or to identify which principle the Sixteenth Amendment illustrates (the answer is checks and balances, or more specifically, a formal limit on judicial power). You need to do two things with this term. First, recall the sequence in order. The Court struck down the income tax in Pollock, then the Sixteenth Amendment overrode it in 1913. Second, classify it correctly as the "ratification of a Constitutional amendment" check from 2.11.B, not congressional legislation or jurisdiction-stripping. No released FRQ has used this term verbatim, but it's a strong piece of evidence for an Argument Essay or Concept Application question about whether the Supreme Court has too much power, since it proves judicial review can be reversed by the people.
Both were ratified in 1913, so they blur together fast. The Sixteenth Amendment is about money (federal income tax, overriding the Pollock decision and checking the Court). The Seventeenth Amendment is about elections (direct election of senators by voters instead of state legislatures). If the question mentions the Supreme Court or taxes, it's the Sixteenth. If it mentions senators or democratization, it's the Seventeenth.
The Sixteenth Amendment, ratified in 1913, gave Congress the power to levy a federal income tax.
It was passed specifically to override Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. (1895), where the Supreme Court ruled a federal income tax unconstitutional.
On the AP exam, it's the standard example of using constitutional amendment ratification to check the Supreme Court, one of the five restrictions listed under learning objective 2.11.B.
It proves judicial review is powerful but not final, because the people can amend the Constitution to erase a Court decision.
Don't confuse it with the Seventeenth Amendment from the same year; the Sixteenth is income tax, the Seventeenth is direct election of senators.
Ratified in 1913, it gave Congress the power to collect a federal income tax without apportioning it among the states. It directly reversed the Supreme Court's Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust (1895) ruling that had struck down a federal income tax.
No. The Court can't strike down a properly ratified constitutional amendment, and that's exactly the point. Once the Constitution itself says Congress can tax income, judicial review has nothing left to invalidate. That's why amendments are such a powerful check on the Court.
Both were ratified in 1913, which causes the mix-up. The Sixteenth created the federal income tax power and checked the Supreme Court; the Seventeenth established direct popular election of senators. Sixteenth equals taxes, Seventeenth equals senators.
It appears in Topic 2.11 (Checks on the Judicial Branch) as the example of "ratification of a Constitutional amendment" limiting the Supreme Court's power under learning objective 2.11.B. It's a Unit 2 institutions concept, not a tax policy concept.
The Supreme Court ruled in Pollock (1895) that a federal income tax was unconstitutional. Congress and the states responded by amending the Constitution in 1913 to explicitly allow it, making the Court's ruling irrelevant. It shows the other branches and the states can override a judicial interpretation by changing the document the Court interprets.
Connect this key term to the AP exam workflow: review the course, practice questions, and check related study tools.
Review units, study guides, and course resources.
Check this vocabulary in multiple-choice context.
Apply key concepts in written AP responses.
Estimate the exam score you are working toward.
Review the highest-yield facts before practice.
Put the full course together before test day.