How can we repair our democracy?
A column in the Omaha World-Herald by Jeremy Aspen caught my attention. He argued that the solution to dissatisfaction with our government is to repeal the 17th Amendment and have U.S. senators appointed by state legislatures. This would certainly cause more problems than it could ever solve. Aspen argues in his column that the cause of dissatisfaction with our government is that states lack enough political power. He writes, We have weakened our Legislature, making it less consequential and prompting fewer Nebraskans to take an interest in it. He seems to believe that giving the state Legislature the power to appoint senators would give the Legislature gravitas, forcing people to pay attention to state politics. A major flaw in Aspens argument lies in history. The Electoral College was a compromise between slave states that wanted Congress to elect the president, and those who wanted direct election. Put simply, the Founding Fathers didnt design the Electoral College. The flaw with plans to restrict democracy in order to save it, is that they think the solution is the problem.