What Happened to Representative Government?

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Have you ever wondered why things happen the way they do on Capitol Hill?  Does it seem like our representatives are more interested in keeping in office and satisfying special interest groups than doing what they promised they would?  Special interest groups and individuals with deep pockets are having more influence on elections (national, state, and local) than the electorate (that’s the voters – you and me).  Senators and Congressmen seem to lose their moral compass and their connection to those that elect them not long after they arrive in DC; they forget the promises they made.  It wasn’t always as bad as it is now.

Our Founding Fathers knew that man was fallible and that trusting too much power in a single person or entity within the government would be disastrous to freedom and liberty.  When they designed the Legislative Branch of government, they created a Senate and a House of Representatives.  The House was (and still is) elected by popular vote.  That is, the people elected them.  Senators were elected by state legislatures.  The intent of our Founding Fathers was to ensure that both houses wouldn’t be pressured by the populace.  The Senate, free from this pressure, could be an objective body that could focus on the business that had to be done by the federal government.  (Wouldn’t it be nice if they could do that now?)  So basically, the Senate looked after the state interests and maintain a solid link between the states and the federal government, thereby limiting the federal government’s power and preventing over reach.  The House represented the people’s interests.  Together, the Founding Fathers believed the federal government would operate under the best conditions.

However, as the country grew, so did hostilities within each state.  Political deadlocks ended with vacant Senate seats.  Those vacancies sometimes lasted years.  Even when there weren’t deadlocks, there was a fair amount of bribery and intimidation at the state level.  So even at the state level, the process wasn’t exactly perfect.  To fix this, the 17^th amendment was proposed.  This amendment did two major things: 1) allowed Senators to be elected by popular vote, and 2) allowed the Governor of each state to fill vacancies when they occur until a special election could be held.

While this amendment eliminated lengthy Senatorial vacancies, the unintended consequences have become clear: special interest groups and individuals with agendas have more influence and power on Senators (and Representatives, too, for that matter) than the people do.  This was NEVER the intent of the Founding Fathers.  These interests provide a large amount of money to election campaigns, and these “donations” always come with strings attached.

This influence is why we no longer have a true representative form of government.  Senate and House campaigns now spend a large amount of money.  Many representatives have personal wealth listed in the millions.  Senators and Congressmen have made careers out of political office.  Neither of these was the intent of the Founding Fathers.  They envisioned the “citizen legislator” – one who comes from the citizenry, not special interests and who did not stay forever.  This is another sure way to create a condition in which greed, avarice, and corruption can flourish.

Term limits were put in place for the Office of President to ensure a President never became so powerful that he/she could override the other two branches of government.  Similar efforts to impose term limits on Congress have failed, the main argument being that the popular vote imposes its own term limits; if the representative failed to do his/her job, the people would vote them out.  Unfortunately, with all this money flooding elections, it’s difficult for the people to really tell what’s going on sometimes, even the informed voter.  Rich, powerful, and influential representatives have the ability to “crush” their competition, mainly because of all the money that’s available.  Newcomers in particular have a very difficult time against incumbents.

So, what do we do about this?  I propose we repeal Section 1, Article 3, of the 17th amendment and replace it with the original text, “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, chosen by the legislature thereof for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote” and keep the language that provides for Governors to fill vacancies temporarily as they occur.

It’s time we the people took back our federal government.  It’s time we the people demanded accountability from our representatives.  It’s time our representatives did what they are elected to do; represent us.  But I’m no political/governmental scientist.  This is just my two cents – for what it’s worth.