Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

General Discussion

Yupster

(14,308 posts)

10. It's better than it was

Reply to BlueCaliDem (Reply #4)

Sun Nov 9, 2014, 01:28 PM

Nov 2014

For our first 140 years, the Constitution said senators were chosen by the state legislatures, not the voters.

That was to be the states' assurance that the federal government would not take power away from the states. The states would control one house of the congress.

That was changed by the Seventeenth Amendment.

Edit history

Please sign in to view edit histories.

16 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

If you look at all 36 Senate races as they stand now [View all] dsc Nov 2014 OP

I am hoping that Toomey in PA is vulnerable. femmocrat Nov 2014 #1

Senate seats are two per state Man from Pickens Nov 2014 #2

we ran opponents there dsc Nov 2014 #3

I'm talking real efforts, not token placements Man from Pickens Nov 2014 #5

I have some sympathy with that argument dsc Nov 2014 #6

The Founding Fathers wanted us to revisit the Constitution every 19 years to keep it up to date, BlueCaliDem Nov 2014 #4

It's better than it was Yupster Nov 2014 #10

Another reason splitting the country up would be awesome. Zorra Nov 2014 #7

This doesn't make sense to me - you can't mix votes from different elections. Yo_Mama Nov 2014 #8

the house is exceptionally gerrymandered dsc Nov 2014 #12

Disincentives to voting cilla4progress Nov 2014 #9

You can't meaningfully compare popular vote between elections. Donald Ian Rankin Nov 2014 #11

the Senate representation was determined by the votes of three elections dsc Nov 2014 #13

But that compares fractions, not absolute numbers! Donald Ian Rankin Nov 2014 #15

Any way you look at it, the senate is undemocratic, the truest indicator of our status as a republic CBGLuthier Nov 2014 #14

The Senate is working exactly as intended. branford Nov 2014 #16