Congress to the states in 1972, the amendment had been approved 33 state legislatures by 1974. Progress was slow thereafter. The ERA finally died on June 30, 1982, three states short of the 38 needed for ratification.
Bolce, De Maio, and Muzzio, all political scientists at Baruch College, fmd that public support for the ERA fell steadily during the decade that it was considered for ratification by the states.
Surveys by the Center for Political Studies show that 73 percent of the public supported...