Levinson The Purpose Of The Senate Summary

Vonelle Robertson Professor Currie American National Government April 15th, 2015 Essay: Should the 17thAmendment be repealed? While citizens of each state did not directly vote in the senators of their respective states legislatures chose the senators based on the law that was adopted in the constitution in 1788.The 17th amendment came about because of the state legislature being deadlocked over the election of United States Senators. This left numerous senate vacancies lasting as long as months or even years. But this was not the first attempt to amend the constitution to elect senators by popular vote. It was first introduced in the US House of Representatives in 1826 but the amendment did not have favorable support until the late 19th century

all states were represented equally in the Senate. This made the smaller states happy. In the House of Representatives, representation was based on population. This pleased the bigger states. The Great Compromise settled the method of representation in the legislative branch.

Though each state has different populations, each state is equally represented by two senators. The Senate has stood strong since the beginning, through weak and strong presidents. It shares many of the same powers as the House of Representatives. Alexis de Tocqueville says the Senate is “eloquent advocates, distinguished generals, wise magistrates and statesmen of note, whose language would at times do honor to the most remarkable parliamentary debates in Europe.”

"How Democratic is the American Constitution ?", by political scientist Robert A. Dahl is a short book that questions the ethical and political issues in America 's Constitution and the structure of the United States government. The book consists of a series of abstract lectures composed by Dahl that reflects on how the American Constitution affects modern society. While this short book brings out plentiful knowledge on the American system , it does not go any deeper into those general ideas for it is only about 200 pages. However, it is still a knowledgeable book to introduce the fundamentals of American government and political science and why American citizens should uphold the Constitution. Dahl introduces the book of how the Founding

By distancing the Senate from the people, the Founders hoped the Senate would ensure the United States’s diplomatic consistency. Likewise, the Founders staggered senators’ selection, so the states only appointed one-third every two years. In theory, this selection timeline would offer continuity in legislative governance, while frequent elections would elect a new House every two years. Ultimately, the Senate’s existence ensures that lawmaking necessitates a near national consensus rather than a momentary majority because of its unrepresentative nature according to Dennis Hale and Marc Landy. Because smaller

The plan proposed by Virginia otherwise known as the “large-state plan.” Which proposed “a bicameral legislature, in which the lower house would be elected proportionately and the upper house would be selected from a list of nominees sent from the state legislatures on the basis of equal representation for the states. ”(add footnote) As the smaller states feared that this plan would lose a voice in the federal government if they continued with the Virginia plan, they opposed this plan and came up with one for themselves which would be known as the “small-state plan.” The small-state plan would propose “a unicameral Congress, with equal representation for each state, with all the powers of the Confederation Congress.

The Constitutional Convention was arranged for the “purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation” (208). As a result, it was concluded that the power of this great nation should fall in the hands of a “direct authority” rather than within each state (209). Additionally, the national government must provide the Constitution as the representation of the people’s voice and their rights. Consequently, the New Jersey plan became in effect in which equal representation amongst the states in a “unicameral (one-house)” (210).

The functions of the Senate is to cautiously examine legislation that are proposed by the House of Commons, to suggest changes or adjustments. The Senate can reject a bill, and recommend changes and improvements to be made. They can introduce new bills however, most bills are introduced by the House of Commons. A bill cannot become a law in Canada without the Senates approval. This is also the only reason that the Senate is a useful institution in Canada today as it represents the interest of the provinces in federal legislative.

One of the compromises made in the Constitutional Convention is the three-fifths compromise. In this compromise, the southerners wanted to add slaves to the population of the state they lived in. If slaves were included in their state’s population, that state would be able to add more representatives in the House of Representatives. Northerners did not agree with that statement because slaves did not have the right to vote. After the delegates compromised, they agreed that only three-fifths of the slave’s population would be counted into the state’s population.

However, trust in a state elected senate eroded over time. Because of legislative deadlock, instances of corruption in the election of senators, and a slow move to populism, the public eventually began to resent the method in which senators were chosen. Although the constitution stated in Article I Section 3 that senators were to be chosen by state legislatures, it was unclear about how that selection should happen. In the late 19th century, states consistently failed to elect their senators because of this grey area. This was the result of political parties dividing state legislatures to the point where they could not agree on a singular candidate and between 1885 and 1900 alone the states of West Virginia, Louisiana, Montana, Washington and

Overall, different people have different opinions on the Senate. Some want to abolish, reform or keep it as is. However, I believe it should be reformed to make it more equal for everyone across

The Senate and House of Representatives comprise the two chambers of the United States Congress. While both houses are representative bodies and jointly oversee the executive branch, both must approve all bills before the president, but both chambers have different roles according to the Constitution. The House of Representatives has 435 members apportioned to the house from across the United States. States with larger populations receive more seats within the house.

As one of the most hotly debated areas of the US government, the Electoral College deserves to be given a more in-depth look. It was originally founded as a way to prevent a lack of informed voters from electing an unqualified president. Now, it still serves its original purpose, but has become far less necessary in an age of easily accessible information. Despite having some positive points, the Electoral College is too overburdened by issues like unfair vote distribution and a high failure rate to be an effective system. The way the Electoral College distributes votes is overtly favorable to less populated states.

In Document D, it says, “The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand but each state shall have at least one representative… The Senate of the United States shall be composed by the legislatures thereof for six years, and each

“Articles 1, Section 2, House of Representatives. Clause 3: Representatives … shall be apportioned … according to … (population).... The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at least one representative: and until (a census is taken within three years)... Article 1, Section 3, Senate. Clause 1: The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each state, chosen by the legislatures thereof for six years; and each senator shall have one vote(Constitution of the United States of America, 1787).”