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The amendment has been criticized by some for eroding the principle of [[Federalism]] that the Constitution was based on. On the other hand, the proponents of the amendment claim that the prior system allowed for Senators to buy the votes of the legislators that elected them.
The amendment has been criticized by some for eroding the principle of [[Federalism]] that the Constitution was based on. On the other hand, the proponents of the amendment claim that the prior system allowed for Senators to buy the votes of the legislators that elected them.
==Background==
The process of senators being selected by the state legislatures seemed to work well until the mid-1850s. At that time, growing hostilities in various states resulted in vacant Senate seats. In Indiana, for example, the conflict between Democrats in the southern half of the state and the emerging Republican Party in the northern half prevented the election of any candidate, thereby leaving the Senate seat vacant for two years. This marked the beginning of many contentious battles in state legislatures, as the struggle to elect senators reflected the increasing tensions over slavery and states' rights which led to the Civil War. After the Civil War, problems in senatorial elections by the state legislatures multiplied. In one case in the late 1860s, the election of Senator John Stockton of New Jersey was contested on the grounds that he had been elected by a plurality rather than a majority in the state legislature. Stockton based his defense on the observation that not all states elected their senators in the same way, and presented a report that illustrated the inconsistency in state elections of senators. In response, Congress passed a law in 1866 regulating how and when senators were elected in each state. First, a voice vote would be taken in each house. If there was no overwhelming choice, then a concurrent vote would be taken. This process revealed information about voting preferences to minority cliques within the legislatures, who then knew who they had to support or oppose. This was the first change in the process of senatorial elections created by the Founders. The law helped but did not entirely solve the problem, and deadlocks in some legislatures continued to cause long vacancies in some Senate seats. Intimidation and bribery marked some of the states' selection of senators. Nine bribery cases were brought before the Senate between 1866 and 1906. In addition, forty-five deadlocks occurred in twenty states between 1891 and 1905, resulting in numerous delays in seating senators. So the American people said that we need more democracy, and left-wing muckraking journalists gave out calls for supporting the 16th and 17th amendments as well as the Federal Reserve. <ref>https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Direct_Election_Senators.htm</ref>
== Calls for Repeal ==
== Calls for Repeal ==