17. Amendment to the United States Constitution
The 17th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America determined that the senators by the people of their respective countries to be selected. It was passed on April 8, 1913, and was first used in the 1914 election. Until then, senators were elected by the legislature of their state under Article 1, Section 3 of the Constitution .
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Original:
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.
German translation:
The United States Senate consists of two senators from each state who are elected for six years by its population. Each senator has one vote. The electorate in each state must meet the same conditions as are prescribed for the electorate of the most numerically strong chamber of the legislative bodies of that state.
If Senate seats become vacant in the representation of a state, its government calls for replacement elections in order to fill the completed mandates. However, the legislature of any state may authorize its government to make provisional appointments until the people elect to fill vacant seats in accordance with the instructions of the legislature.
This amendment should not be construed as affecting the election or term of office of any senator who was elected prior to the entry into force of this amendment as part of the constitution.
Historical background
Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution provided for the election of senators by the state legislatures . This enabled them to participate in federal politics and at the same time increase the chances of ratification of the constitution. It is also intended to prevent the federal government from having too much influence over the individual states. The Constitutional Fathers also expected that this regulation would make the Senate independent of any direct influence on the people as a counterweight to the directly elected House of Representatives .
This scheme appeared to work until the mid-1850s. By this time, growing political disputes (which eventually led to civil war ) made the election of senators impossible in some states. In Indiana , for example, the conflict between the Democratic Party and the nascent Republican Party prevented the election of a senator. As a result, this post remained vacant for four years. As a result, many state legislative disputes over the election of senators increasingly reflected the disputes ultimately leading to civil war over slavery and the extent of the rights of individual states.
After the Civil War, difficulties in choosing senators became commonplace. For example, in the mid-1860s, the election of John P. Stockton as Senator from New Jersey was challenged on the grounds that he received only a relative and not an absolute majority in the state legislature. Stockton defended himself by pointing out that the states elected their senators in different ways. To this end, he presented an overview of the differences between the electoral systems. In 1866, Congress responded with a law regulating the timing and methods of state senatorial election. This was the first time that the system of electing senators created by the Constitutional Fathers was changed. The law could alleviate but not eliminate the problems. Some senatorial posts remained vacant for a long time because the state legislatures could not agree.
Senatorial elections were partly characterized by intimidation and bribery . Between 1866 and 1906, nine cases of bribery were brought before the Senate. In addition, there were 45 cases between 1891 and 1905 where state legislatures struggled to reach agreement, resulting in numerous delays in the selection of senators. It took Delaware four years to elect a senator in 1899.
The call for reform rose in 1826 when direct election of the senators was first proposed. In the 1870s, voters petitioned the House of Representatives calling for a popular election of the senators. Between 1893 and 1902, events accelerated. During this time, constitutional amendments to the popular election of senators were proposed in Congress every year. The Senate, however, strongly opposed any change. In the mid-1890s, the Populist Party included the direct election of senators in its program, but this was ignored by Democrats and Republicans. The direct election was also part of of Robert La Follette and George W. Norris represented Wisconsin Idea . At the beginning of the 20th century, some states introduced changes themselves. Beginning in 1907, the Oregon legislature “elected” candidates-designate by popular vote. Shortly thereafter, Nebraska followed, and later other states. It became more and more difficult for the reform opponents in the Senate to oppose the change.
After the turn of the century, the pressure to reform increased. William Randolph Hearst built his press empire with Cosmopolitan magazine . In this magazine wrote David Graham Phillips his scandalized article series "The Treason of the Senate" ( "The Treason of the Senate ") in which he represented the senators as controlled by industrialists and bankers puppets. As a result, there was a growing need for Senate reform in public opinion.
Senators were increasingly elected on the basis of popular polls, modeled on Oregon. 1912 there were 29 states where either elected senators entirely by popular election or the candidates of the parties by primaries (so-called primaries ) were determined. The directly elected senators also aimed for direct elections nationwide, but this required a constitutional amendment. In 1911, the directly elected Senator William Borah of Idaho proposed a resolution containing the draft constitutional amendment. Eight Senators from the Southern States and all Republican Senators from New England , New York, and Pennsylvania rejected the motion. The passage was mainly pushed through by the directly elected senators. Most of them were in their first term in office and may therefore be more willing to support a direct election.
The proposal was also fiercely disputed in the House of Representatives . In 1912 the House of Representatives approved the amendment. Now it still required ratification by a three-quarters majority of the individual states. The campaign for ratification was particularly supported by Senator Borah and political scientist George H. Haynes . He also contributed to the adoption of the supplementary article with his research on the Senate.
With the ratification of Connecticut in 1913, the addition achieved the necessary three-quarters majority of states and became part of the constitution. Two by-elections were held in 1913, and in the following year all the senators standing for election were elected by the people for the first time.
Content of the addition
The addition repeats the wording contained in Article I Section 3 of the Constitution on the composition of the Senate, but replaces the words "chosen by the Legislature thereof" with "elected by the people thereof" ( "Elected by the people there"). It also allows governors, in the event of a vacancy, to provisionally appoint a senator until the next election.
The addition is one of the so-called "Progressive Amendments". These are constitutional amendments 16 to 19. These are very close in time and were carried by a political movement that is also known as “progressive” (here: progressive).
criticism
After announcing his retirement in 2004, Senator Zell Miller proposed an amendment to the Constitution that would repeal the 17th Amendment. He justified this with the fact that the 17th Amendment gives the interest groups in Washington too much influence. The 17th Amendment was also attacked by Alan Keyes , who had previously unsuccessfully run for president and senator. With the authors Harry Browne and Lew Rockwell , two well-known libertarian personalities have also spoken out in favor of repealing the 17th Amendment. They say he has upset the balance of power between the individual states and the Union. In Utah, there is a group called " Friends for America " campaigning for support for a repeal.
Until 1913 the ideal was that in Congress the state legislatures were represented by the senators and the local populations by the representatives. Regardless of how this worked out in practice, the ideal of the 17th supplementary article is different. Now the people in the individual states are represented by several local representatives and, in addition, nationwide by two senators. A representation of the institutions of the individual states at the federal level is no longer planned.
States that held popular elections before the amendment was passed
In some states, popular elections were held prior to the adoption of the constitutional amendment, which were subsequently confirmed by the parliaments. In California , Kansas , Minnesota , Nebraska , Nevada , Ohio and Oregon senators were directly elected, in Colorado , Florida , Idaho , Illinois , Iowa , Louisiana , Maine , Maryland , Michigan , Mississippi , Missouri , New Jersey , North Dakota , Oklahoma , Texas , South Dakota , Washington, and Wisconsin had statutory primary elections , and Alabama , Arkansas , Georgia , Kentucky , South Carolina, and Virginia had voluntary primary elections.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ SJ Res. 35
- ↑ Popular Election of US Senators. In: The Tribune almanac and political register 1913 , p. 461; accessed on March 18, 2020