Recently, Illinois Republican Senate candidate Alan Keyes expressed a favorable view toward repealing the 17th Amendment. That amendment resulted in the direct election of senators and, according to Keyes, tipped the balance of power heavily in favor of the federal government. According to Keyes, “the balance is utterly destroyed when the senators are directly elected because the state government as such no longer plays any role in the deliberations at the federal level.” Previously, and as intended by the founders, state legislatures had elected senators. The rationale was that those chosen by the legislatures would be far more aware of the particular interests and needs of the state than even many of its citizens. The preservation of dual-federalism, whereby the state government shared power with the central, was considered a vital protection against the encroachment of the central government. As a result of the 17th amendment, state governments have gradually become so impotent that they have been reduced to mere satellite units of the omnipotent centralized government.
According to the founders, the most certain means to guard against an overreaching government was to ensure that the states played a central role in the deliberations at the national level. James Madison, often called the “Father of the Constitution”, in Federalist 345 describes the role of the senate and expounds upon the senate’s relationship to the central government. “It is recommended by the double advantage of a select appointment, and of giving to the State governments such an agency in the formation of the federal government as must secure the authority of the former, and may form a convenient link between the two systems.” He goes on to highlight the unique role the senate has in serving as a check to the federal government. “In this point of view, a senate, as a second branch of the legislative assembly distinct from and dividing the power with a first, must be in all cases a salutary check on the government.” It was seen as vital to the survival of the Republic that the states be able not only pursue their local interests, but to also defend them from external encroachment. The senate was intended to be the more deliberative of the two houses of Congress. As such, it would avoid the more ruckus and emotive-driven policy making of the House, which was elected directly by the people. Madison also touches on this point. “The necessity of the Senate is not less indicated by the propensity of all single and numerous assemblies to yield to the impulse of sudden and violent passions, and to be seduced by factious leaders into intemperate and pernicious resolutions.” To many people today, the idea of senators who not elected by the people may seem anathema, bordering on political heresy. It reveals how far this nation has come from its original cynicism of direct elections.
Echoing Aristotle, the founders were weary of placing too much power directly in the hands of the populace. Certainly, the vox populi is important, but the founders did not necessarily believe in vox populi, vox dei. That’s why they founded a republic, not a democracy. Alan Keyes has breathed life into an important issue that for many years has fallen out of the realm of even speculation. Although even he realizes that the likelihood of returning to the original intent is not great, he has certainly opened the political door of possibility. Illinois is fortunate to boast a viable candidate whose political philosophy mirrors the Founding Founders more than any other candidate in the country.
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