Juan Williams on the Electoral College
Juan Williams, and many if not most Liberals suffer from a lack of familiarity with the United States Constitution. He believes the United States Senate (and therefore the Electoral College) is tyrannical because it only represents 18% of the population of the United States, where the House of Representatives represents the entire population of the United States. This is where his ignorance of Civics comes into play.
When the Nation’s Founders wrote the Constitution they wanted to insure the will of the people was followed, but they didn’t want the more populated states to have a greater say than less populated states, in how the national government created laws. With this in mind they designed the Congress to consist of two different bodies; the House of Representatives, and the Senate.
Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution says in part:
“The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States …”
With this, it was determined that members of the House were representatives of the people, elected by the popular vote of the people in each state; with the number of members being determined by the population of each state. More populous states would receive more seats in the House than less populous states.
However, when it came to the creation of the Senate, the Founders insured that each of the State governments were given representation in the federal government.
Article 1, Section 3 of the Constitution says in part:
“The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote. …”
With this, it was determined that members of the Senate were representatives of the individual States, elected by the State Legislatures, with the number of Senators being fixed at two Senators for each State.
What … huh … did you say elected by the State Legislatures? Yes! United States Senators were elected by the Legislatures of each state up until the Ratification of the 17th Amendment on April 8th, 1913.
U.S. Constitution - Amendment 17 says in part:
“The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. …”
So, for 125 years from 1788 until 1913, U.S. Senators were elected by the State governments. It was the rise of the Progressive political movement in the late 19th Century that pushed to take away the only voice the States had in the creation of national government policy.
With the knowledge of how the Senate was created, you can see that Juan William’s assertion there’s a disparate representation in the Senate is simply a sign of his ignorance of its design. In its original intent, the United States Senate was an aggregate of members from each State that represented the interests of each State in the federal government. His view of the Senate as a single body representing the entire population of the nation is misguided. He does, however, better describe its current implementation as the result of Progressive meddling with the original intent of the Founders.
