The 17th Amendment fundamentally changed senator accountability by introducing direct election. This shift exposed senators to a less attentive public on foreign policy, weakening congressional constraints on presidential power. We analyze this relationship using historical data showing how piecemeal adoption of the amendment influenced delegations of authority.
Direct Election & Accountability Change
Popular vote replaced state legislatures as senator selectors in 1913. This new accountability structure altered incentives: senators faced a less informed, disengaged public rather than knowledgeable state representatives.
Election Reforms & Presidential Power
Our findings demonstrate that direct election adoption progressively reduced congressional oversight of executive foreign policy initiatives. Data reveals clear trends toward executive dominance coinciding with this electoral reform.
Why This Matters
This research shows how everyday democratic processes can reshape institutional power balances. The unintended consequence of making senators more directly accountable to voters was creating space for a stronger presidency.
| The Direct Election of Senators and the Emergence of the Modern Presidency was authored by Thomas Gray, Jeffery Jenkins and Phil Potter. It was published by Cambridge in PSR&M in 2022. |
