17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1913. It altered the way in which Senators of the Congress were elected. Previously, under Article 1 of the Constitution, it was the state legislature's responsibility to elect senators to Congress. With the 17th Amendment, however, the voting power was placed directly into the hands of the public. The Amendment also provided a way for states to allow governors to fill vacancies in their state's appointed seats in Congress by temporarily appointing a senator until a time in which a special election could be conducted.
The text of the Amendment states specifically that "two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years" shall be the manner in which senators are now voted into office. This effectively made the process of electing senators more democratic and less representational, in the sense that that the voting public had the power to choose its congressional representative directly as opposed to having the state legislature act as a middle man between the voting public and its representatives in Congress.
What was the effect of this new Amendment on American politics? First it is necessary to understand how the political scene was established prior to the passing of the Amendment. Under the original draft of the Constitution, the state legislature was empowered with the ability to determine the state's elected senators for a six-year term. One of the advantages of this order was that with the states recognizing a central government to which each was bound (rather than all the states acting as a loose federation, which was the case prior to the adoption of the Constitution), anti-federalists (who were a strong and adamant group of citizens opposed to a central government) could breathe more easily believing that the states could have some degree...
Catholic Church in Spain and the United States The Catholic Church has been a very significant religious and political institution in the Europe. Its origins can be traced to a thousand years when Christianity was itself in its infancy. It was a symbol of colossal authority and was much regarded as an institution that was as similar to the installed governmental mechanism of any nation state. Its power and influence spread
political framework of EU and OCT European Union (EU) and Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) are in association with each other via a system which is based on the provisions of part IV of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU), consisting of detailed rules and measures which are laid down in the document issued on 27th November 2001 title Oversees Association Decision. The expiry date of this
Because of the newer mobility of a significant amount of suburban America, driving to national parks was even more an option. The more people visited the Parks, it seemed, the more of a synergistic effect upon their funding and use (Jensen and Guthrie, 2006). By the Johnson Administration in the 1960s, coupled with more media attention, there was increased public awareness of America's natural treasures. This was now that "Parks
United States Constitution concentrates on. It will address how it treated the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and the complaints in the Declaration of Independence. How the Constitution Deals with Weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation One key factor that has helped keep the constitution of the United States alive is the processes involved in its amendment. These processes require 2/3 majority votes from the two houses of Congress or
Territorial Expansion How did the U.S. acquire the territory in question? On the auspicious date of April 30, 1803, the United States of America bought eight hundred and twenty eight thousand square miles worth of land from the French government of Napoleon Bonaparte. Thomas Jefferson, the President of America, wanted to secure this deal. Wars were rampaging overseas in the continent of Europe and Napoleon had intentions to safeguard what he had acquired
So who is an American and what an America can or cannot do are questions which are critical to the issue of legalizing immigrants. Does being an American mean you cannot show allegiance to any other country? The images of people raising and waving Mexican flag had enraged many but it need not have. It should be accepted that people who come from different countries would forever hold in their
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