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The entire purpose of the Senate was not balance the power of the House, it was to provide states with representation in the federal government. To such end, i
by rmah 8y ago
The entire purpose of the Senate was not balance the power of the House, it was to provide states with representation in the federal government. To such end, in the original constitution state governments chose senators -- because the senators represented the individual states -- not the people of those states.
Then the 17th Amendment changed all that and made senators elected by popular votes just like the house members. This, IMO, eliminated the primary reason for having a Senate at all (to represent states). It now simply (poorly) duplicates the same purpose of the House (to represent the people).
- mr_cyborg 8y agoOne could make the argument that the senators still represent the state, because they represent everyone in the state, whereas a representative only represents their district.
- burfog 8y agoThe difference shows up in things like unfunded mandates. An appointed senate would resist demanding that states pay money. Voting for such a thing would likely get the senator rejected by the state government, preventing another term. In general, appointed senators were a force to keep government smaller.
- juliangoldsmith 8y agoThe Senate was created to serve both purposes. I'd recommend reading up on the Connecticut Compromise [0]. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecticut_Compromise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecticut_Compromise