Actually i wasn't very clear, but what i was trying to say in my post is that both senators and presidents (or more specifically, electoral college representatives) are voted by popular vote on a state-by-state basis.
I'm curious, before the 17th amendment passed, how were senators appointed? I hope not "one from each party", because that really wouldn't help things!
In the original construction of the US Constitution, the only government job that was directly elected by the populace was Representative in the House of Representatives. There were several reasons for this. For all their talk of returning the power to the people, the Founding Fathers didn't really trust the people of the time. Most were illiterate and with the slow movement of information, they weren't the most prepared to make educated choices about their government beyond their local town council or county board. Of course, they elected their State Governments as well, but that process varies from state to state. Its because the people elected the Representatives that any proposed taxes have to originate in the House, so that the people control when they are taxed. To counter putting governing power in the hands of the people, Representatives only have two year terms so that the entire House of Representatives is up for election every two years. Also, the Constitution provides for the election of Senators by the Legislatures of the states. So we elected our state government and they then elected the Senators. The Electors for the Electoral College were also popularly elected (and to this day, this is who we actually vote for when we vote for president). Originally, we were electing people we trusted to have informed themselves of all the relevant local issues and would cast their vote for the person they felt was best qualified. Originally, the President and Vice-President were simply the #1 and #2 winner in the electoral college. As the two-party system became more entrenched the party's began nominating their own electors who were promising to vote for their party and the President and Vice-President became a joint ticket to prevent any more President and Vice-President of opposing parties (as had happened in the past).
The 17th Amendment allowed for direct election of Senators which shifted their focus from serving their state governments (as you pointed out) to serving the people (which the House of Reps. is supposed to do). This also provides the distraction of having to run for re-election.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Hey there Aussie!!!
Date: 2004-10-20 06:31 am (UTC)I'm curious, before the 17th amendment passed, how were senators appointed? I hope not "one from each party", because that really wouldn't help things!
Re: Hey there Aussie!!!
Date: 2004-10-20 07:09 am (UTC)The 17th Amendment allowed for direct election of Senators which shifted their focus from serving their state governments (as you pointed out) to serving the people (which the House of Reps. is supposed to do). This also provides the distraction of having to run for re-election.