From 1789 to 1913, U.S. senators were not directly elected by
the people--instead the Constitution mandated that they be chosen
by state legislators. This radically changed in 1913, when the
Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, giving the
public a direct vote. "Electing the Senate" investigates the
electoral connections among constituents, state legislators,
political parties, and U.S. senators during the age of indirect
elections. Wendy Schiller and Charles Stewart find that even though
parties controlled the partisan affiliation of the winning
candidate for Senate, they had much less control over the universe
of candidates who competed for votes in Senate elections and the
parties did not always succeed in resolving internal conflict among
their rank and file. Party politics, money, and personal ambition
dominated the election process, in a system originally designed to
insulate the Senate from public pressure.
"Electing the Senate" uses an original data set of all the roll
call votes cast by state legislators for U.S. senators from 1871 to
1913 and all state legislators who served during this time.
Newspaper and biographical accounts uncover vivid stories of the
political maneuvering, corruption, and partisanship--played out by
elite political actors, from elected officials, to party machine
bosses, to wealthy business owners--that dominated the indirect
Senate elections process. "Electing the Senate" raises important
questions about the effectiveness of Constitutional reforms, such
as the Seventeenth Amendment, that promised to produce a more
responsive and accountable government.
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