Constitutionalism

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The elections of senators before the 17th amendment were a reserve of the state legislature. Ideally, the American people did not have a say in the elections of the individuals tasked with enacting laws that would be binding to the entire nation. It is prudent that that aspect of the constitution was derogatory and undemocratic since it denied the general public their rights to choose their leaders. Relatively, the contribution of the general public in electing senators was not considered since the process was left to the discretion of the state legislature. The founders’ notion of the dangers of the majority ruling the society was resonated in this aspect of the constitution since people were denied the right to choose their people. It is prudent that by allowing the majority to elect senators directly, they would choose leaders who would pursue their interest and not those of the state in general. In light of that perspective, the Constitution vested the power to elect senators to the state legislature since the exercise would result in more credible individuals (Lowi, Theodore, and Benjamin, 2011).

However, from a democratic perspective, leadership should be from the majority whether good or otherwise the decision of the masses should always be respected. Given the fact that American Founders were a skeptic of a purely democratic nation where the majority rules, the constitution that was adopted in 1788 made the process more bureaucratic by locking out the influence of the majority of electing senators. At times, the election of senators under that law would run into a deadlock since states rival parties controlled different houses making it difficult for any of them to choose an individual to fill those slots. Such issues culminated in senator positions remaining vacant for long periods thus denying some states representation in the Congress.

References

Bernhard, William, and Brian R. Sala. "The remaking of an American Senate: The 17th amendment and ideological responsiveness." Journal of Politics 68, no. 2 (2006): 345-357.

Lowi, Theodore J., and Benjamin Ginsberg. "American government: Freedom and power." (2011).