In 1913, the U.S. Constitution was amended to establish the direct election of U.S. Senators by the people. Previously, Senators were elected by state legislatures.
The proponents of this change believed it would reduce corruption, citing cases in which Senate candidates bribed members of the legislature for their support, and eliminate instances in which states had no Senator for extended periods due to gridlock in state legislatures.
The opponents believed that the change would increase the power of the Federal government at the expense of the power reserved to the states and would result in Congress impulsively passing legislation based on prevailing majority opinion in the moment.
When the Founding Fathers created the Constitution, they established institutions that provided “checks and balances” among themselves. They strived to create the right balance between the will of the majority and individual rights, as well as between the Federal and State governments. Thus, they created the House of Representatives (elected by the people every two years), the President (elected by the Electoral College every four years), the Senate (elected by state legislatures every six years), and the Supreme Court (appointed by the President, with consent of the Senate, with no term limit). The passage of the 17th Amendment altered this balance.
Now that the Amendment has been in effect for over a century, it’s worth assessing its impact.
Congress currently has an approval rating of 20% and, with the exception of a short period after the 9/11 attacks, has had negative approval ratings since at least 1974. These negative views have persisted regardless of which political party is in power. Notably, a recent poll showed 56% of Americans believe the government is corrupt. Candidates for the Senate now need to raise significant amounts of money, including from special interest groups, which was not required when they were elected by State legislatures.
Prior to 1913, the amount of taxes paid to all levels of government was a minuscule percentage of the national GDP; now it is approximately 25%. Most of those taxes are paid to the Federal government.
In recent years, Congress has supported war with Iraq in response to reports it had weapons of mass destruction, bailed out banks and other large institutions in response to a financial crash, and locked down the entire nation in response to a pandemic. These decisions were extremely popular at the time they passed, often due to misinformation, fear-mongering, and/or lies, but none of them appear wise in retrospect. If the Senate weren’t so beholden to popular opinion, it might have pumped the brakes on those decisions.
Finally, the election of Senators is now more partisan than ever. When they were elected by State legislatures, Senators often received support from a coalition that included members of the minority party. Now the Senators are much more concerned with obtaining majority support within their own party.
To date, only the 18th Amendment (Prohibition) has been repealed. It may be time to reconsider the merits of the 17th Amendment and actively engage in a national debate regarding its repeal.