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The Meaning Of The Seventeenth Amendment And A Century Of State Defiance, Steven E. Art, Zachary D. Clopton
The Meaning Of The Seventeenth Amendment And A Century Of State Defiance, Steven E. Art, Zachary D. Clopton
Steven E Art
Nearly a century ago, the Seventeenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution worked a substantial change in American government, dictating that the people should elect their Senators by popular vote. Despite its significance, there has been little written about what the Amendment means or how it works. This Article provides for the first time a comprehensive interpretation of the Seventeenth Amendment based on a detailed textual analysis and a variety of other sources: historical and textual antecedents; relevant Supreme Court decisions; the complete debates in Congress; and the social and political factors that led to this new constitutional provision. Among other …