"The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote."Note: Amended by the Seventeenth Amendment.
Comment: While the Framers created the House of Representatives to protect the "People's" interests; they created the Senate to represent and protect the interests of the States. To that end, each state was afforded two (2) Senators, regardless of that State's population, which provided equal representation to the smaller States so that they would be protected. The Senators for each state were elected by its legislature, who then served staggered six-year terms. The Framers believed that by having the terms staggered, and giving each Senator a vote, that the Senators would more closely reflect the political sentiment of the State at any given time. As a result of this bicameral system, the Constitution would end up requiring two independent sources to ratify legislation.
Article 1, Section 3 was amended by the Seventeenth Amendment. Several factors explain its ratification - e.g., from legislative deadlocks, to scandals brought on by charges of bribery in the election of a Senator, etc.. The Seventeenth Amendment was State ratified in less than eleven months by overwhelming numbers. However, congressional approval came slow – i.e., eighty-six years later. During that time period, however, what actually happened was that the States started having non-binding primary (or "advisory") elections to select their Senators, and then the State legislators would promise to vote for that Senator.
In any event, by changing to a "direct" election, the amendment terribly altered the main mechanism used by the Framers to protect federalism. Remember, as originally designed, the Senators were elected and "re-elected" by the legislators, which preserved the loyalty of Senators to the States.
Primary Source. The Heritage Guide to the Constitution.
http://theconstitutionallawblog.blogspot.com
Primary Source. The Heritage Guide to the Constitution.
http://theconstitutionallawblog.blogspot.com
