Passed by Congress on May 13, 1912, and ratified on April 8, 1913, the 17th Amendment modified Article I, Section 3, of the Constitution by allowing voters to cast direct votes for U.S. senators. Prior to its passage, senators were chosen by state legislatures.
The Constitution, as it was adopted in 1788, made the Senate an assembly where the states would have equal representation. Each state legislature would elect two senators to six-year terms. Late in the 19th century, some state legislatures deadlocked over the election of a senator when different parties controlled different houses — Senate vacancies could last months or years. In other cases, special interests or political machines gained control over the state legislature. Progressive reformers dismissed individuals elected by such legislatures as puppets and the Senate as a "millionaires' club" serving powerful private interests. One Progressive response to these concerns was the "Oregon system," which utilized a state primary election to identify the voters' choice for senator while pledging all candidates for the state legislature to honor the primary's result. Over half of the states adopted the "Oregon system," but the 1912 Senate investigation of bribery and corruption in the election of Illinois Senator William Lorimer indicated that only a constitutional amendment mandating the direct election of senators by a state's citizenry would satisfy public demands for reform. In 1910 and 1911, the House passed proposed amendments for the direct election of senators. This would be done by vesting complete control of Senate elections in state governments. They included, however, a "race rider" meant to bar federal intervention in cases of racial discrimination among voters. Supporters of the clause claimed that it guaranteed state sovereignty, while opponents saw it as a workaround to override the will of Black Americans who had the right to vote as conferred by the 15th Amendment. A substitute amendment by Senator Joseph L. Bristow of Kansas provided for the direct election of senators without the "race rider." The Senate adopted the amended joint resolution on a close vote in May 1911. Over a year later, the House accepted the change, and on April 8, 1913, the resolution became the 17th amendment.
As prescribed in the U.S. Constitution, American presidents are elected not directly by the people, but by the people’s electors. The Electoral College was created by the framers of the U.S. Constitution as an alternative to electing the president by popular vote or by Congress. Each state elects the number of representatives to the Electoral College that is equal to its number of Senators—two from each state—plus its number of delegates in the House of Representatives. The District of Columbia, which has no voting representation in Congress, has three Electoral College votes. There are currently 538 electors in the Electoral College; 270 votes are needed to win the presidential election. Several weeks after the general election, electors from each state meet in their state capitals and cast their official vote for president and vice president. The votes are then sent to the president of the U.S. Senate who, on January 6 with the entire Congress present, tallies the votes and announces the winner. The winner of the Electoral College vote is usually the candidate who has won the popular vote. However, it is possible to win the presidency without winning the popular vote. There have been a total of five candidates who have won the popular vote but lost in the Electoral College, with the most recent cases occurring in the 2016 and 2000 elections. Two other presidents—Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876 and Benjamin Harrison in 1888—became president without winning the popular vote. In the 1824 election between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, Jackson won the popular vote but neither won a majority of Electoral College votes. Adams secured the presidency only after the election was decided by vote of the House of Representatives, a procedure provided for in the Constitution when no candidate wins a majority of the Electoral College. The Electoral College is not a place, it’s the process that takes place to election the President of the United States. The founding fathers established it in the Constitution. This video explains the process and what it is designed to achieve: Suggested for You
The Senate and the Constitution
In 1787 the framers of the United States Constitution established in Article I the structure and powers of Congress. They debated the idea of a Congress made up of two houses. One house would be, in the words of Virginia’s George Mason, the “grand depository of the democratic principle of government.” To counter this popular influence in the national government, James Madison of Virginia proposed another house that would be small, deliberative, and independent from the larger, more democratic house. This became the Senate. Committee System
Committees are essential to the effective operation of the Senate. Through investigations and hearings, committees gather information on national and international problems within their jurisdiction in order to draft, consider, and recommend legislation to the full membership of the Senate. Only a small percentage of bills considered by committees reach the Senate floor. They evaluate presidential nominees for executive and judicial posts and provide oversight of federal government operations. Electing & Appointing Senators
The Constitution granted state legislatures the power to elect United States senators. Supporters of the Constitution argued that this method of election would strengthen the states' ties to the national government and insulate senators from shifting public opinion. To further distance the Senate from democratic pressures, the framers also provided that only one-third of the Senate would stand for election every two years. Later, in 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution established direct popular election of senators. Idea of the Senate
Ever since the framers of the United States Constitution created the Senate, senators, scholars, journalists, and other observers have sought to explain its role in the federal system of checks and balances. What is it that makes the Senate stand apart from other legislative bodies? Why have its seemingly arcane rules and traditions survived, and what purposes do they still serve? Parties & Leadership
Members of the Senate belonging to the two major political parties are organized into party conferences. The conferences (also referred to as caucuses) and their leaders play an important role in the daily functions of the Senate, including setting legislative agendas, organizing committees, and determining how action proceeds on the Senate floor. When senators represent third parties or serve as Independents, they typically work within the two established party conferences to gain committee assignments or manage legislation. |
Which office was designed by the framers to be filled by an individual who was directly elected by the people?
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