Why does the Senate have 2 senators?
No one person has the sole power to speak for an entire state. Two Senators can represent two views that are important to the people in the state. And the House of Representatives is a counterbalance to the Senate.
How many senators are there in each state?
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years. [U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 3, clause 1] James Madison’s Virginia Plan, introduced to the Constitutional Convention on May 29, 1787, called for a bicameral national legislature.
How many senators does Wyoming have?
Wyoming has two senators in the United States Senate and one representatives in the United States House of Representatives. Does California have state senators? In which House of Congress does each state have the same number of votes no matter how large or small its population quizlet?
Why is half of the US Senate not elected?
That would have been based on the fact that Senators used to be appointed by state legislatures. Now Senators are elected by the citizens of each state, which means, in most cases, half of the state does not get any representation in the Senate because both Senators belong to the same party and the other party is ignored.
Does each state get 2 senators?
Article I, Section 3, Clause 1: 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.
When did the states get 2 senators?
The Constitution, as it was adopted in 1788, made the Senate an assembly where the states would have equal representation. Each state legislature would elect two senators to six-year terms.
Do all 50 states have 2 senators?
Each state is equally represented by two senators who serve staggered terms of six years. There are currently 100 senators representing the 50 states.
Do you vote for one or two senators?
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. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.
What a filibuster means?
The Senate tradition of unlimited debate has allowed for the use of the filibuster, a loosely defined term for action designed to prolong debate and delay or prevent a vote on a bill, resolution, amendment, or other debatable question.
Why do small states get two senators?
The Convention approved two senators per state by unanimous vote. At the same time, the delegates provided that senators would vote as individuals rather than having one vote per state, abandoning the practice used in Congress under the Articles of Confederation and in the Constitutional Convention.
How much does a US senator make?
$174,000 per annumSenate Salaries (1789 to Present)YearsSalary2019$174,000 per annum2020$174,000 per annum2021$174,000 per annum2022$174,000 per annum55 more rows
How do states choose senators?
United States senators have been elected directly by voters since 1913. Prior to that time, state legislatures chose the state's senators. In the mid-1850s, however, the state legislature selection process began to fail due to political infighting and corruption.
Why do small states get two senators?
The Convention approved two senators per state by unanimous vote. At the same time, the delegates provided that senators would vote as individuals rather than having one vote per state, abandoning the practice used in Congress under the Articles of Confederation and in the Constitutional Convention.
How did the 17th Amendment change the selection of senators?
With the change to direct popular election of senators, the Seventeenth Amendment allows governors, if empowered by state legislatures, to appoint a replacement and set a date for a special election to choose a successor to serve for the remainder of the term.
What Amendment changed how senators are elected?
The Seventeenth Amendment (Amendment XVII) to the United States Constitution established the direct election of United States senators in each state. The amendment supersedes Article I, Section 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of the Constitution, under which senators were elected by state legislatures.
How were senators originally chosen?
According to Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution, “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, chosen by the legislature thereof for six Years.” The framers believed that in electing senators, state legislatures would cement their ties with the national government.
How many senators does each state have?
Originally Answered: In the US Senate, each state has two senators regardless of population. How can this be justified, considering the huge differences in population between some states (e.g. California is about 75 times larger than Wyoming in terms of population)?
Why was the Senate created?
It’s really for political reasons, not absolute fairness, that the Senate was created in such a way as to give equal representation to each state. It seemed necessary in 1787. But there were lots of things that could not be foreseen, such as the rise of a strong national culture and the eventually lopsided ratios between the most populous and least populous states.
What was the ratio between the most populous state and least populous state in 1789?
The ratio between most populous state and least populous stat in 1789 was about 7 to 1. Today, the ratio between California and Wyoming population is 50 to 1. But the Senate made sense to the Framers in 1787 for a particular reason.
Why did the Senate make sense to the Framers in 1787?
But the Senate made sense to the Framers in 1787 for a particular reason. At that time, all 13 former colonies were like independent nations or independent countries. They could mint their own coins, print their own money, and conduct international diplomacy di
How does the electoral college work?
BTW, its also how the electoral college works - the electoral college gives each state a number of electoral votes equal to the sum of Senators and Representatives.
How is the lower house apportioned?
The Lower House, or House of Representatives is apportioned by population. The upper house, or Senate is apportioned evenly to each state. Each state gets two Senate seats. This was the best way to preserve equality, without damaging the more populous’s states ability to fully represent themselves. Pete LaValle.
What was the alternative to the United States?
The alternative was to not have a United States of America at all. When the U.S constitution was written, and consequently the national government became a thing, the states were the basic sovereign entities. It were state representatives who went to the constitutional convention, not the people as a whole. The small state representatives wanted all national legislative representation to be equal for every state rather than based on the population. The large states wanted all national legislative representation to be based on each state’s population. The compromise was to make the lower house
What does the Senate do?
The Senate and the House do many different things; the Senate ratifies treaties, makes the final decision on impeachment, and advises and consents on important matters. They can take laws originated in the House and then pass them on to the president or they can block them.
How many senators did the founding fathers want?
They debated and agonized over this issue and then bent to pressure from representatives of the smaller states that wanted two senators for each state, regardless of size and population.
How many senators did neither I nor Payne call for?
neither i, nor payne, called for 535 senators. you've missed the mark entirely there. if you actually read payne's article above you'll see he SUGGESTS 6 senators for california (which currently has 53 members of the house). your arithmetic is also significantly off the mark.
Why are Republicans in power?
Republicans are in power and are winning in this conflict of interests clearly because the two senator from each state rule gives them a distinct advantage. And that’s simply because they have most of the smaller states in the South and in the Northwest on their side.
Why do Democrats and Republicans have opposite views?
Right now Democrats and Republicans have opposite views on the issues of health care, taxation, inequality of income in America, women and minority rights, climate change , as well as many others.
What is the most logical future political entity?
The most logical future political entity is the bio-region. The people left in each biological region on earth that has the potential of supporting itself (if any after the resource wars) will have to learn how to govern itself.
Which states have the Constitutional Amendment?
Texas, New York, and Florida — 5. Illinois and Pennsylvania — 4. Ohio, Georgia, Michigan, and North Carolina — 3. States from New Jersey down to Connecticut — 2. States from Iowa down to Wyoming — 1. Of course, this change in the Senate would require a Constitutional Amendment, a very difficult thing to do.
How many senators are there in the bottom 21 states?
The bottom 21 states = 42 senators, but only 51 House members for 37.3 million in population. yes, a lot of smaller states are red states, but in that bottom 21 you also have Rhode Island, Vermont, Connecticut, Hawaii, Delaware, New Hampshire and Maine. Not to mention Iowa and New Mexico. Reply to this post.
How many states will be in the Senate in 2040?
It was merely to give the minority an over sized influence. However, the current situation is that roughly 30% of the population can control the Senate. By 2040 it is projected that 70% of the population will live in just 15 states, meaning that 30% of the population will control 70% of the senate. This was never intended, but created by the formation of new states that albeit large, were and still are sparsely populated.
Why did the 3/5th compromise allow the Southern states to count the slaves as inhabitants?
And the fact that the Southern states treated their slaves as less than human, with no rights, shows that a fixed number of Senators worked to the advantage of the slave states.#N#And the 3/5th compromise was designed to allow the Southern states to count the slaves as inhabitants for the purpose of determining the number of Representatives.
How many states were there when the Constitution was written?
As was noted above, when the Constitution was written there were 13 states. The New England states were a lot smaller than the Southern states at that time. Virginia was the LARGEST state. In 1789, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware were still slave states. In fact, 8 out of the 13 were.
What was the source of conflict between the states?
Racism was the foundation, and the source of conflict between the states.
Why did the North benefit from the Constitution?
And the North obviously benefitted as well because the raw goods produced in the South would cost less for Northern manufacturers. #N#But to admit that the Constitution was written to account for, and accommodate, slavery is difficult for many white Americans.
What was the House of Representatives based on?
One part, the House of Representatives was based on the concept of "one person, one vote.". The number of House members each state got was based on that state's population. That was just what the founders were afraid of, so they set up a second body in Congress - the Senate. Its membership was based on the idea that each state in this new United ...
Why are there two senators in California?
The main reason the “two senators per state” arrangement is undemocratic is that it produces extremely unfair representation for American voters. The fact that both large and small states both get two senators means that the citizens in small states get many more representatives ...
How many senators can elect from the smallest states?
This problem of minority rule could be potentially much worse. Citizens from the smallest states that represent only 17% of the U.S. population can elect 51 senators and effectively rule this body over the objections of the other 83% of us. And amazingly it only takes 42 senators from smallest states representing 10% of the population to uphold a filibuster and effectively block any legislation favored by the vast majority. In no other Western democracy is the potential for this kind of misrepresentation and minority rule so extreme.
Why is the Senate important?
More importantly, because of its undemocratic nature, the Senate has become the graveyard of many policies supported by the majority of Americans. This questionable tradition goes back far into the previous century. The Senate blocked ratification of the League of Nations treaty after World War I, stalled anti-lynching and civil rights legislation after World War II, and killed the Clinton universal healthcare program in the 1990s. More recently in 2019, the Democratic House passed a whole raft of bills supported by most Americans on the issues of gun control, global warming, equal pay for equal work, controlling violence against women, rebuilding vital infrastructure, lowering prescription drug costs, preserving net neutrality, and voting and campaign finance reform. All were killed by a Republican Senate whose leader, Mitch McConnell, bragged that he wanted to be called “The Grim Reaper.” If you are wondering why the U.S. lags behind most of our peer democracies in all of these policies areas, the minority-controlled Senate provides much of the answer.
How does minority rule affect the Senate?
The minority rule built into the Senate not only distorts legislation, it also affects other important forms of political power wielded by that body. For example, over-representation of conservative smaller states also gives them increased power to block constitutional amendments. It only takes 34 senators to torpedo an amendment, and that number can represent 17 small states with as few as 7% of the U.S. population. It makes an amendment process that already favors minority rule even more anti-democratic. Amendments to abolish the Electoral College, for example, stand little chance of passing when small states control the process.
What are the effects of unequal representation in the Senate?
The results of unequal representation and minority rule in the U.S. Senate ripple out and have many disturbing political effects. First, and probably most obviously, this kind of Senate often produces policies that disproportionately favor small states and their citizens. For example, many of the smallest states, like Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and West Virginia get much more back from federal programs than they pay in federal taxes. While many large states, like California, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York pay a lot more in federal taxes than they get back.
How many Democratic senators opposed Neil Gorsuch?
When President Trump’s nominee, Neil Gorsuch, was approved by the Senate in 2017, the 45 Democratic Senators who opposed him actually represented 25 million more Americans that the 55 Republican Senators who supported him.
What does the Constitution say about the Senate?
The Constitution says that “No state, without its consent, will be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.” This is widely understood to mean that any attempt to change this arrangement through amendment would fail if even one state failed to support it. Talk about minority rule!