The concept of a bicameral legislature was based on representation of the two different political units who ceded power to create the federal government - the states and the people. The concept was they would both act to represent their respective sources - the House to the people and the Senate to the states.
But the 17th Amendment changed Senators from being selected by the state governments to being elected by general vote. In essence, this eliminated the balancing factors in the Legislature, removed the concerns of the states from affecting the FedGov, and has led to even greater Federal usurpation of states' powers.
Has the populist sentiment that voted in the 17th Amendment caused significant and irreparable damage to the US? Does the Senate do anything for us that the House does not already do, or could not do just as well?
Should the 17th Amendment be repealed?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
2006-09-21
01:23:29
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4 answers
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asked by
Anonymous
in
Government