The Seventeenth Amendment changed who picks your United States senator, and constitutional scholar Bill Norton argues it was never validly ratified. In 1913 the selection of senators moved from state legislatures to a statewide popular vote, and the states lost the single structural check they held over Washington. Jenny Beth Martin sits down with Norton for the bonus conversation following Lesson 3 of the founding-principles training on the U.S. Constitution, and the hour turns on one clause: Article Five says no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. Norton's reading is that the Seventeenth Amendment therefore required unanimous ratification rather than three quarters of the states, and he says the states that never voted for it still have a case to bring. Along the way: why the three branches were never designed to be equal, the mixed form of government traced from Polybius through Montesquieu to John Adams, the Illinois Senate seat that was bought for $2,500 a legislator and the outrage that pushed the amendment through, why the Senate is poorly built to function as a democracy, the supremacy clause and what "in pursuance thereof" actually requires, nullification from Real ID to marijuana to sanctuary states, and the answer to the objection that repeal would take away your vote. Bill Norton is a constitutional scholar and author whose book Behind the Constitution is in draft and expected later this year. Get the free founding-principles training at teapartypatriots.org/1776. More at teapartypatriots.org and jennybethshow.com.
Guest: Bill Norton is a constitutional scholar, author, and founding-principles educator. He has taught the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence for more than thirty years, and his book Behind the Constitution is in draft and expected later this year. This is the bonus conversation following Lesson 3 of his founding-principles training with Jenny Beth Martin, and the final lesson in the series will cover the Bill of Rights.
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Timestamped breakdown:
00:00:00 — Welcome, and where this conversation sits in the founding-principles series
00:01:15 — Why the three branches were never designed to be equal
00:04:22 — John Adams, Polybius, and Montesquieu on the mixed form of government
00:07:27 — Why the Electoral College stops looking like a unicorn
00:10:31 — The founders' logic behind the seven articles
00:14:41 — Federalism versus a national government, and the amendments that damaged it
00:16:30 — The push to replace the Electoral College with a national popular vote
00:24:56 — The Seventeenth Amendment: what changed in 1913
00:27:40 — The bought Senate seat that gave the amendment its momentum
00:32:34 — Why the Senate is poorly designed to function as a democracy
00:35:46 — The irony: more corruption after 1913, not less
00:38:28 — Article Five and how amendments actually pass
00:44:57 — The case that the Seventeenth Amendment was never validly ratified
00:50:28 — Answering the objection: would repeal cost you your vote?
00:55:15 — Bring our senators home
00:56:14 — Who has their United States senator's cell phone number?
01:04:04 — The filibuster, supermajorities, and minority rule
01:13:23 — The supremacy clause and what "in pursuance thereof" requires
01:18:24 — Nullification: Real ID, marijuana, and sanctuary states
01:23:33 — When the Supreme Court gets it wrong: judicial review and Article Three
01:35:48 — No kings: what the founders meant by an executive monarchy
01:41:14 — Closing, and the Bill of Rights conversation ahead
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