Miller: Legislatures Should Pick Senators

Zell Miller, Georgia's maverick Democratic senator, says the nation ought to return to having senators appointed by legislatures rather than elected by voters. Miller, who is retiring in January, was first appointed to his post in 2000 after the death of Paul Coverdell. He said Wednesday that rescinding the 17th Amendment, which declared that senators should be elected, would increase the power of state governments and reduce the influence of Washington special interests.

"The individuals are not so much at fault as the rotten and decaying foundation of what is no longer a republic," Miller said on the Senate floor. "It is the system that stinks. And it's only going to get worse because that perfect balance our brilliant Founding Fathers put in place in 1787 no longer exists."

He's got a point. The primary force of restraint upon the growth of the Federal Government was intended to be the interests of the States. Originally, they were practically separate nations. The Senate was to act as representatives of the State Government, preventing the Federal Government from encroaching where the States had a proper claim.

Why is this a good thing? Well, consider the checks and balances idea. Currently we have a Federal government that is very much out of touch with the people, and growing in size and scope rapidly. At first blush, having the Senators elected directly seems like a good idea, since they are then responsible to the people of their state. However, individual access to senators is non-existant; there are too many people in each state. Special interests come to dominant access and persuasion efforts.

If Senators were elected by their state governments, however, they would have a much smaller constituency -- and one with much more opportunity for personal contact with the actual citizens. The state legislators are easily available to their citizens (rather than safely hidden in Washington), and can provide a very vocal voice to their senators.

Although modern communication and travel have removed many of the original, practical concerns underlying the constitutional framework for government, the citizens of this nation have no more access to a Senator today than they did when the Constitution was written.