The Seventeenth Amendment: The Folly of the Direct Election of Senators

The Seventeenth Amendment: The Folly of the Direct Election of Senators; Jeffrey Shaw

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This paper explores the rationale behind the original structure of the United States Senate,and how, by altering this structure, the Seventeenth Amendment inadvertently removed many of the safeguards the Constitution provided against an over-powerful national government. It will begin by examining the arguments given by the delegates of the Constitutional Convention, and the State Ratifying Conventions, for the necessity of legislative selection of senators. Following that, it will then discuss the forces which led to the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment, and the unforeseen consequences of direct election. Finally , this paper will show that the assumptions made by the advocates of direct election were wrong, while the insights of the founding fathers into this regard are as true now as they were in 1787; and that the sooner we restore the original structure of the Senate, the sooner we can undo the damage that has been caused by this ill-advised amendment.