(Ralph Rossum, The Heritage Guide to the Constitution
, page 414)Citizen Advocates for Constitutional Principles
Constitutional Gems - # 750 - 12-10-2007
The Seventeenth Amendment was approved and ratified to make the Constitution more democratic. Progressives argued forcefully, persistently, and ultimately successfully that the democratic principle required the Senate to be elected directly by the people rather than indirectly through their state legislatures. By altering the manner of election, however, they also altered the principal mechanism employed by the framers to protect federalism. The framers understood that the mode of electing (and especially reelecting) Senators by state legislatures made it in the self-interest of Senators to preserve the original federal design and to protect the interest of states as states (see Article I, Section 3, Clause 1). This understanding was perfectly encapsulated in a July 1789 letter to John Adams, in which Roger Sherman emphasized that “[t]he senators, being eligible by the legislatures of the several states, and dependent on them for re-election, will be vigilant in supporting their rights against infringement by the legislative or executive of the United States.”
(Ralph Rossum, The Heritage Guide to the Constitution
(Note: The Change in the manner of selecting a Senator does not alter the ratification of amendments to the Constitution.)
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