Legal Definitions - Seventeenth Amendment

Seventeenth Amendment

The Seventeenth Amendment is a change to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1913, that fundamentally altered how U.S. senators are chosen. Before this amendment, state legislatures selected their state's senators. The Seventeenth Amendment shifted this power directly to the citizens, allowing the eligible voters of each state to elect their senators through popular vote.

• Example 1: Historical Shift in Voter Power

  Imagine a voter in California in 1910. When it was time to select a U.S. Senator for their state, that voter would cast ballots for state representatives and state senators. It was those elected state legislators who would then meet and vote among themselves to choose who would represent California in the U.S. Senate. Fast forward to today: a voter in California directly casts a ballot for their preferred U.S. Senate candidate during statewide elections. This direct election by the people, rather than by state lawmakers, is a direct result of the Seventeenth Amendment.

• Example 2: Impact on Political Campaigns

  Consider a candidate running for a U.S. Senate seat today. Their campaign strategy involves extensive travel across the state, holding public rallies, engaging in televised debates, and running advertisements aimed at millions of individual voters. This approach is necessary because, thanks to the Seventeenth Amendment, they must win the popular vote of the entire state's electorate. Prior to 1913, a candidate's campaign would have focused more on lobbying and building relationships with a few hundred state legislators, as those were the individuals who held the power to elect them.