Ben Sasse stole my only good national op-ed idea

But seriously, repeal the 17th Amendment

Throughout the covid crisis we've seen repeated coordination failure between states and the federal government, leading to lots of loud appeals for a more centralized response. But repealing the 17th Amendment can improve coordination and maintain federalism. [thread]

Repealing the 17th Amendment would return to state legislators authority to select U.S. senators. Senators appointed by state governments would represent the interests of states as a political whole, acting as ambassadors of sorts between state legislatures and the feds./

(An aside to the self-aware parasites of the D.C. Beltway: Repealing the 17th would even benefit you all, giving the sausage makers direct access to state capitols via these appointed senators. But maybe you like flying out to small towns to lobby, IDK.) /

Until the 17th Amendment, Article 1 Section 3 of the Constitution worked as written: "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."/

The 17th Amendment was part of a populist movement. In 1913, directly electing senators might have given the people more of a voice, but today in practice it means the Senate is as dependent on campaign money, and thus as partisan and vulgar, as is the House./

Repealing the 17th is a step towards re-federalization, and might stave off some of the fights over national identity that underlie our polarization. We might weaken the system producing an ineffectual national legislature happy to let agencies and judges rule by regulation./

James Madison and Alexander Hamilton anticipated all of this. Federalist 62 explains that, because of the Senate as originally conceived, "No law or resolution can now be passed without the concurrence, first, of a majority of the people, and then, of a majority of the States."/

The six-year terms of senators as originally conceived provided continuity for federal policy; that is, they helped coordinate over the long-term as do bureaucrats in executive agencies today, while also guaranteeing the agency of state governments in the formation of policy./

The American system tries to preserve liberty and citizenship by the division of authority. Inefficiencies are a fundamental part of our system. The 17th Amendment made our regime a little less mixed, but has not made coordination more efficient, and we should consider repeal./

Finally, as the Federalists said of an appointed Senate: "I shall not scruple to add, that such an institution may be sometimes necessary as a defense to the people against their own temporary errors and delusions." Maybe we shouldn't vote on everything. [end thread]

appendix: An appointed Senate has its own obvious corruptions and uglinesses; it's a question of prudence and degrees, not good vs bad.
I also admit repealing the 17th only helps if you also *vastly* expand the House of Representatives. They can have Zoom meetings.