Seventeenth Amendment

[Popular Election of Senators]

-Proposed by Congress on May 13, 1912; Declared ratified on May 31, 1913

  

"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 construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution."  

This amendment is really quite simple--just stating that the election of senators is based upon the people's vote. I did a little bit of research into the background of this amendment, and this is what I found:

Under the original terms of the Constitution, US Senators were not elected by the people but were, instead, selected by the various state legislatures. By the turn of the 20th century, many of the reform-minded citizens of the Progressive Era believed that this system of "indirect election" led to corruption, as political machines manipulated Senate elections and some ambitious individuals sought to literally buy a seat in the Senate by bribing state legislators. This amendment ended this system, allowing direct election of US Senators by popular vote.

Although the video below shows the view of someone who disagrees with this amendment, I think that most people would not find any problem with this amendment. How can they? This is the government allowing the people to vote for them! Giving the people a direct vote is a huge part of our democracy and I don't think that there is anything wrong about this amendment or anything that needs to be changed.

I find myself disagreeing with his view. I feel that allowing the people to directly vote for their senators is the type of freedom the Founding Fathers wished for for America's citizens. Even though voting for local government leaders could maybe more accurately represent peoples' views, this is just as valid of a way to give them what they want.