this is the 17th amendment, i need to know what it means in plain english:
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.
When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.
This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.
2007-12-18 09:54:59 · 0 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Government
Each state gets 2 senators
They will be elected by the people of the state instead of appointed by the state legislature.
They get elected for six years
They each get one vote
If a senator leaves office before the end of their term (by resignation, impeachment or death) then the governor of their state will appoint someone to fill the position.
2007-12-18 10:02:40 · answer #1 · answered by davidmi711 7 · 8⤊ 0⤋
First the Constitution guarantees the states a Republican form of government in Article 4 Section 4, "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion".The the Bill of rights reinforces the Constitution with the 10th Amendment, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
But along came the biggest scoundrel (president Woodrow Wilson) who in 1913 brought about the shift from a republican form of government to a democracy by easily pushing through the 17th amendment which stopped the state legislature from sending a Senator to represent the will of the state which was represented by the people of the state to the Senate being voted on directly by the people. This might seem well and good but it is not as now we are a democracy. All of your founders basically said, a democracy will kill itself. the reason it will dissolve is because a democracy is no different than a mobocracy...where the will of the masses become the rule and there is no rule of Law that protects the minorities, whether the minorities are religion, groups, color, creed...
Watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdS6fyUIklI
2015-01-07 05:46:16 · answer #2 · answered by Mike 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It amends Article 1 Section 3 of the Constitution to provide for the direct election of Senators by the people of a state rather than their election or appointment by a state legislature.
2007-12-18 10:03:36 · answer #3 · answered by jstjen71 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It means the 17th Amendment shifted the choosing of Senators from the state legislatures to the people of the states.
2007-12-18 09:59:00 · answer #4 · answered by Sapphire 5 · 4⤊ 1⤋
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The citizens of the United States of America elect the Senators, not the state legislators
2016-03-24 08:25:52 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋