Answer(s)
• Citizens of their state
• People of their state
• Citizens of their state
• People of their state
The sharing of power between federal and state governments.
When officials are chosen by other elected bodies rather than directly by citizens.
DOUGLAS GINSBURG, Federal Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit:
A United States senator represents all the people of his or her state. The Senate was designed by the Founders of the republic to protect the rights and interests of the state against the powers of the federal government.
Under the Constitution, a member of the House of Representatives is elected by a majority of the voters in that member’s district.
Not so for senators. Under the original Constitution, U.S. senators were chosen by their state legislature – as the representatives of the people in their state. The goal was to ensure that U.S. senators represented the interests of the state government over that of the federal government. The theory behind the design also held that senators would be less beholden to a national political party.
This indirect election of senators reflected the Founders’ constant fear of the tyranny of the majority. A popular bill passed by the House in the heat of the moment might be blocked in the Senate, whose members were less susceptible to pressure from the majority of their constituents.
Since the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, however, citizens of the states directly elect their senators.
