Glossary

A

Act of July 25, 1866

Chapter 245 of the 39th Congress, 14 Stat. 243, 'An Act to regulate the Times and Manner of holding Elections for Senators in Congress.' It fixed the day, the viva voce vote, the separate-then-joint sequence and the daily ballot until election. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: How Legislatures Elected Senators, 1789 to 1866: Joint Ballots, Instructions, Contests and the Act of 1866

Aggregation principle

The Commerce Clause doctrine of Wickard v. Filburn (1942) that Congress may regulate local activity whose combined effect on interstate commerce is substantial. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Federalism: The Case That It Changed Little

Anti-commandeering rule

The doctrine of New York v. United States (1992) and Printz v. United States (1997) that Congress may regulate people directly but may not order state legislatures to enact, or state officers to administer, a federal program. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Federalism: The Case That It Changed Everything

Article I, Section 3

The part of the Constitution that created the Senate. From 1789 to 1913 its first clause read 'chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years.' The Seventeenth Amendment replaced that phrase with 'elected by the people thereof.' The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Original Design: Why the Framers Gave Senate Elections to the State Legislatures

Article V

The amending article. Two-thirds of both houses of Congress (or a convention called on application of two-thirds of the states) propose; three-fourths of the states ratify. It also bars depriving any state of equal Senate suffrage without its consent. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Repeal, Reform and the Debate Today

Article V application

A state legislature's formal request that Congress call a convention to propose amendments. Two thirds of the states must apply before Congress is obliged to call one. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Reform Movement: Populists, Progressives, the Oregon System and the Race Rider

B

Bicameral filter

The argument that two chambers with different constituencies catch legislation that one chamber alone would pass. Zywicki argues the Seventeenth Amendment made the two constituencies alike and weakened the filter. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Federalism: The Case That It Changed Everything

Bristow substitute

Senator Joseph L. Bristow of Kansas's substitute for the House resolution, without the race rider, adopted June 12, 1911 on a 44 to 44 tie broken by the Vice President. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Reform Movement: Populists, Progressives, the Oregon System and the Race Rider

C

Committee of the Whole

The Convention sitting as a single committee to debate the Virginia Plan in late May and June 1787. Its votes, including the June 7 vote on legislative election, were recommendations the Convention later confirmed or changed. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Original Design: Why the Framers Gave Senate Elections to the State Legislatures

Committee on Privileges and Elections

The Senate committee that, from 1871, investigated contested elections and bribery charges and reported to the full Senate. Its unanimous report of April 23, 1900 ended William A. Clark's first term. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Deadlocks, Vacancies and Scandals, 1866 to 1912: What Went Wrong with Legislative Election

The Senate committee that examined contested elections and credentials, including Shoup, McConnell and Clagett v. Dubois in 1892. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Idaho and the Seventeenth Amendment: Legislative Elections, One Contested Seat, Four Deadlocks and a 1917 Statute

Concurrent vote

Election of a senator by the two houses of a legislature voting separately, each by majority, with both having to agree on the same person. The early practice in most states and, in Kent's view (and in Haynes's reading of Story), what the Constitution's 'chosen by the Legislature' called for. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: How Legislatures Elected Senators, 1789 to 1866: Joint Ballots, Instructions, Contests and the Act of 1866

Conditional spending

Federal grants that a state may accept only by agreeing to conditions. Upheld within limits in South Dakota v. Dole (1987); held coercive when the threatened loss was too large in NFIB v. Sebelius (2012). The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Federalism: The Case That It Changed Everything

Conference committee

A committee of members from both houses appointed to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of a measure. The Seventeenth Amendment resolution sat in conference from July 5, 1911 until the House gave way in May 1912. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Passage and Ratification: 1911 to 1913, State by State

Connecticut Compromise

The Grand Committee report adopted July 16, 1787 by 5 states to 4, giving each state an equal vote in the Senate and apportioning the House by population. Also called the Great Compromise. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Original Design: Why the Framers Gave Senate Elections to the State Legislatures

Credentials

The governor's certificate, under the state seal, that a person has been elected senator. The Senate seats a claimant with credentials regular on their face and may then refer them to committee if the election is challenged. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: How Legislatures Elected Senators, 1789 to 1866: Joint Ballots, Instructions, Contests and the Act of 1866

The certificate from a state's governor and secretary of state attesting that a person has been elected senator. In 1890 Governor Shoup signed the credentials certifying his own election. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Idaho and the Seventeenth Amendment: Legislative Elections, One Contested Seat, Four Deadlocks and a 1917 Statute

D

Deadlock

A legislative Senate election in which no candidate can get the required majority for an extended period. Haynes counted only contests 'so bitter and unyielding' that they ended either in no election or in a compromise candidate, and measured them in calendar days from the first separate vote to the last. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Deadlocks, Vacancies and Scandals, 1866 to 1912: What Went Wrong with Legislative Election

Haynes's term for a prolonged and stubborn contest in a legislature over a Senate seat, measured in calendar days from the first separate ballots of the two houses to the final vote. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Repeal, Reform and the Debate Today

Drawing lots

The method by which a new state's first two senators were assigned to Senate classes. In January 1891 McConnell drew the class whose term ended March 3, 1891 and Shoup the class ending March 3, 1895. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Idaho and the Seventeenth Amendment: Legislative Elections, One Contested Seat, Four Deadlocks and a 1917 Statute

E

Election declared invalid

The Senate's finding under Article I, Section 5 that a member was not duly elected, which vacates the seat by majority vote. Distinct from expulsion under the same section, which requires two thirds. Lorimer's seat was vacated this way, 55 to 28. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Deadlocks, Vacancies and Scandals, 1866 to 1912: What Went Wrong with Legislative Election

Enrolled joint resolution

The final official copy of a measure passed by both houses, signed by the Speaker and the President of the Senate. For a constitutional amendment it goes to the states without the President's signature; the 1912 enrolled resolution is printed at 37 Stat. 646. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Passage and Ratification: 1911 to 1913, State by State

Equal suffrage

Two senators and two votes for every state regardless of population. Article V says no state may be deprived of it without its consent, which is why it is treated as the one effectively unamendable feature of the Constitution. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Original Design: Why the Framers Gave Senate Elections to the State Legislatures

Equal suffrage clause

The provision of Article V that no state may be deprived of its equal vote in the Senate without its consent, the one feature of the Senate's state basis that the Seventeenth Amendment did not touch and that ordinary amendment cannot. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Federalism: The Case That It Changed Little

F

Failure to elect

A legislative session that ends without choosing a senator. Haynes found 14 between 1891 and 1905; the result was either a special session, a seat left vacant, or a governor's appointee the Senate would refuse to seat. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Deadlocks, Vacancies and Scandals, 1866 to 1912: What Went Wrong with Legislative Election

Farrand's Records

Max Farrand's edition of The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, which prints the official Journal, Madison's notes and other delegates' notes day by day. The Avalon Project at Yale Law School hosts the text online. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Original Design: Why the Framers Gave Senate Elections to the State Legislatures

Fusion

An election arrangement in which two parties back a common slate. In Idaho's 1896 election the Democrats and Populists fused, and the Populists were to have the Senate seat; Heitfeld's election in January 1897 was the result. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Idaho and the Seventeenth Amendment: Legislative Elections, One Contested Seat, Four Deadlocks and a 1917 Statute

G

Grants to state and local governments

Federal outlays paid to states, localities and tribes, reported in OMB Historical Table 12.1 from fiscal 1940 forward, in dollars, as a share of outlays and as a share of GDP. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Federalism: The Case That It Changed Everything

I

Idaho Code 59-910

Idaho's statute, enacted in 1917, empowering the governor to fill a Senate vacancy by appointment until a senator is regularly elected at the next general election, with a thirty-day proviso. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Idaho and the Seventeenth Amendment: Legislative Elections, One Contested Seat, Four Deadlocks and a 1917 Statute

Ingalls precedent

The rule from the 1879 Kansas case that a senator's election would not be voided for bribery unless the senator himself was personally complicit. Haynes blamed it for making unseating 'practically impossible.' The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Deadlocks, Vacancies and Scandals, 1866 to 1912: What Went Wrong with Legislative Election

Instruction

A resolution by a state legislature directing its senators how to vote. Common in the early republic and claimed as a right by Anti-Federalists; never written into the Constitution and never legally binding. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Original Design: Why the Framers Gave Senate Elections to the State Legislatures

A resolution of a state legislature directing its United States senators how to vote on a question. Common from the 1790s to the 1850s; never legally binding; sometimes followed by a senator's resignation. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: How Legislatures Elected Senators, 1789 to 1866: Joint Ballots, Instructions, Contests and the Act of 1866

J

Joint ballot (joint assembly)

Election of a senator by the two houses meeting together as one body and voting by majority of those present. About half the states adopted it before 1866; the 1866 Act made it the fallback when the separate votes disagreed. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: How Legislatures Elected Senators, 1789 to 1866: Joint Ballots, Instructions, Contests and the Act of 1866

Joint memorial

An Idaho legislative resolution addressed to Congress or another body, used to urge federal action such as a constitutional amendment. None on repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment was found. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Idaho and the Seventeenth Amendment: Legislative Elections, One Contested Seat, Four Deadlocks and a 1917 Statute

Judge of elections

The power in Article I, Section 5 that makes each house 'the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members.' The Senate used it to void or confirm legislative elections from 1794 to 1913. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: How Legislatures Elected Senators, 1789 to 1866: Joint Ballots, Instructions, Contests and the Act of 1866

L

Late ratification

A state's ratification of an amendment after it has already become part of the Constitution, with symbolic effect only. Alabama (2002), Delaware (2010) and Maryland (2012) did this for the Seventeenth Amendment. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Repeal, Reform and the Debate Today

M

Memorial (legislative)

A resolution by a state legislature asking Congress or another body to act. Utah's SJR 2 (2016) and Texas's HCR 19 (2011) are memorials; they have no legal force beyond the request. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Repeal, Reform and the Debate Today

Millionaires' Club

A press and reform label for the Senate of the 1890s and 1900s, implying that seats were bought or held by the very rich. Haynes's 1906 counts show a real but smaller group than the phrase suggests. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Deadlocks, Vacancies and Scandals, 1866 to 1912: What Went Wrong with Legislative Election

Misrepresentation

Haynes's term for a legislature electing a senator of the party that had lost the state's popular vote, through deadlock compromises or holdover senators, as in North Dakota and Kansas in 1893. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Deadlocks, Vacancies and Scandals, 1866 to 1912: What Went Wrong with Legislative Election

O

Omaha platform

The platform adopted by the People's Party at its first national convention on July 4, 1892. Its appended resolutions called for election of United States senators by a direct vote of the people. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Reform Movement: Populists, Progressives, the Oregon System and the Race Rider

Oregon System

Oregon's combination of the initiative and referendum (1902), the direct primary with its Statement No. 1 pledge (1904) and the 1908 initiative instructing the legislature to elect the people's choice for senator. Other states copied parts of it. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Reform Movement: Populists, Progressives, the Oregon System and the Race Rider

Oregon's laws of 1904 and 1908 that let voters express a choice for U.S. senator and let legislative candidates pledge (Statement No. 1) to vote for the people's choice. Copied in some form by many states before 1913. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Federalism: The Case That It Changed Little

P

Pairing

An arrangement between two senators on opposite sides to both abstain so that one's absence does not change the result. Lot Morrill broke his pair with Stockton's absent colleague on March 23, 1866, which is why Stockton cast the deciding vote in his own case. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: How Legislatures Elected Senators, 1789 to 1866: Joint Ballots, Instructions, Contests and the Act of 1866

Party caucus

The closed meeting of a party's legislators that chose the party's Senate candidate before the formal joint ballot. Haynes noted it was unknown to the law, met behind closed doors and left no record. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Federalism: The Case That It Changed Little

Plurality rule

Declaring elected the candidate with the most votes even if less than a majority. New Jersey's joint meeting adopted it 41 to 40 in 1865 to elect Stockton; the Senate's rejection of that election led to the 1866 Act. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: How Legislatures Elected Senators, 1789 to 1866: Joint Ballots, Instructions, Contests and the Act of 1866

Political safeguards of federalism

Herbert Wechsler's 1954 thesis that the states are protected from federal overreach by their role in composing and selecting the national government (Senate, House districts, Electoral College, parties), so courts need not police the line themselves. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Federalism: The Case That It Changed Everything

Preemption

The displacement of state law by federal law under the Supremacy Clause. Express preemption comes from statutory text; implied preemption covers field preemption (federal law occupies a subject) and conflict preemption (state law conflicts with federal law). The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Federalism: The Case That It Changed Everything

Preference primary

A popular vote on candidates for the United States Senate held before the legislature met, binding the legislators in some states and advisory in others. At least 29 states used some form of it by 1912. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Reform Movement: Populists, Progressives, the Oregon System and the Race Rider

Preliminary injunction

A court order issued before final judgment to prevent irreparable harm. The plaintiffs in Judge v. Quinn lost theirs because they could not show such harm, even though the court thought them likely to win on the merits. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Text and the Courts: Three Paragraphs, Four Cases and Fifty Vacancy Laws

Principal-agent problem

The gap between what a representative (agent) does and what the people who choose the representative (principals) want. Gailmard and Jenkins ask how the gap changed when the principal switched from a legislature to voters. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Federalism: The Case That It Changed Little

Proclamation of ratification

The official announcement that an amendment has been ratified. In 1913 the Secretary of State issued it; the Seventeenth Amendment's proclamation is dated May 31, 1913. Today the Archivist of the United States certifies amendments. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Passage and Ratification: 1911 to 1913, State by State

Proviso

The clause beginning Provided, That in the amendment's second paragraph, which carves the appointment power out of the general rule that vacancies are filled by election. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Text and the Courts: Three Paragraphs, Four Cases and Fifty Vacancy Laws

Public choice analysis

A method from economics that treats legislators, voters and interest groups as actors pursuing their own interests, used by Zywicki to ask who gained from direct election. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Federalism: The Case That It Changed Everything

Q

Qualification clause

The sentence in the amendment's first paragraph tying the right to vote for senator to the qualifications for voting for the most numerous branch of the state legislature, copied from Article I, Section 2's rule for the House. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Text and the Courts: Three Paragraphs, Four Cases and Fifty Vacancy Laws

Quasi-experiment

A study design that treats a real-world change, such as the Seventeenth Amendment, as if it were an experimental treatment, comparing behavior before and after and using an untreated group (here, the House) as a control. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Federalism: The Case That It Changed Little

R

Race rider

The clause in the House's 1911 resolution providing that the times, places and manner of Senate elections would be prescribed in each state by its legislature, removing Congress's power under Article I, Section 4 to make or alter those rules. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Reform Movement: Populists, Progressives, the Oregon System and the Race Rider

Ratification

A state legislature's formal approval of a proposed amendment under Article V. Three fourths of the states must ratify; in 1913 that meant 36 of 48. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Passage and Ratification: 1911 to 1913, State by State

Recall

The power of a state to remove its delegates before their term ends. The Articles of Confederation allowed it; the Constitution does not. Anti-Federalists at the New York and Massachusetts conventions tried and failed to restore it. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Original Design: Why the Framers Gave Senate Elections to the State Legislatures

Recede and concur

The House's motion on May 13, 1912 to give up its own version and agree to the Senate's, which ended the dispute without a conference report. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Passage and Ratification: 1911 to 1913, State by State

Recess appointee

A person a governor named to a Senate vacancy under the original Article I, Section 3 power. The Senate refused to seat appointees from states whose legislatures had been in session and failed to elect, in 1893 (Montana and Washington; Wyoming's appointee resigned before a ruling), 1897 (Oregon) and 1899 (Pennsylvania). The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Deadlocks, Vacancies and Scandals, 1866 to 1912: What Went Wrong with Legislative Election

Recess appointment (original clause)

Under Article I, Section 3 as written in 1787, a governor could appoint a senator during a legislative recess until the legislature next met. Kirtland Perky's appointment in November 1912 was the last of this kind in Idaho. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Idaho and the Seventeenth Amendment: Legislative Elections, One Contested Seat, Four Deadlocks and a 1917 Statute

Recess appointment (original vacancy clause)

The 1787 rule that if a Senate seat fell vacant while a state legislature was not sitting, the state executive could make a temporary appointment 'until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.' The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Original Design: Why the Framers Gave Senate Elections to the State Legislatures

Rejection

A legislature's recorded vote against ratifying. Utah and Delaware rejected the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913; a rejection does not prevent a later ratification, as Delaware's 2010 resolution shows. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Passage and Ratification: 1911 to 1913, State by State

Removal power (proposed)

A feature of Utah's 2016 proposed amendment text: state legislatures could remove the senators they selected, restoring an enforceable version of the old power of instruction. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Repeal, Reform and the Debate Today

Repeal (constitutional)

Removing an amendment's effect by adopting a later amendment, as the Twenty-first did to the Eighteenth. An amendment cannot be repealed by statute or resolution. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Repeal, Reform and the Debate Today

Repeal Amendment

A proposed constitutional amendment, published by Randy Barnett and William Howell in September 2010, that would let the legislatures of two-thirds of the states repeal any federal law or regulation. A state veto rather than a return to legislative election of senators. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Repeal, Reform and the Debate Today

Rotation (classes)

The division of the first Senate into three classes so that one third of the seats are filled every two years. The result is that no state elects both senators in the same year and the Senate never turns over all at once. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Original Design: Why the Framers Gave Senate Elections to the State Legislatures

S

Same-party requirement

A state law requiring the governor to appoint a senator from the same party as the senator who left. NCSL counts eleven such states; three of them have the party or the legislature supply a list. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Text and the Courts: Three Paragraphs, Four Cases and Fifty Vacancy Laws

Savings clause

The amendment's third paragraph: it shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Passage and Ratification: 1911 to 1913, State by State

Second-order election

An election decided mostly by feelings about a different, higher office, as Schleicher argues state legislative elections were when they also chose senators and still are under national parties. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Federalism: The Case That It Changed Little

Short term

The unexpired remainder of a Senate term, filled by a separate election. In January 1913 Idaho's legislature elected Brady to the short term ending March 3, 1915 left by Heyburn's death. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Idaho and the Seventeenth Amendment: Legislative Elections, One Contested Seat, Four Deadlocks and a 1917 Statute

Special election

An election held on a date other than the regular general election to fill a vacancy. Fifteen states require one for the Senate; thirty-five fill the seat at the next regular general election. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Text and the Courts: Three Paragraphs, Four Cases and Fifty Vacancy Laws

Statement No. 1

A pledge under Oregon's 1904 direct primary law by which a candidate for the legislature promised to vote for the United States Senate candidate who won the most votes at the primary, whatever his party. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Reform Movement: Populists, Progressives, the Oregon System and the Race Rider

Statutes at Large

The official chronological publication of federal laws and resolutions. Volume 37, page 646 holds the joint resolution proposing the Seventeenth Amendment. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Passage and Ratification: 1911 to 1913, State by State

Summary affirmance

A Supreme Court decision upholding a lower court's judgment without full briefing or argument, as in Valenti v. Rockefeller, 393 U.S. 405 (1969). Its precedential weight is debated. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Text and the Courts: Three Paragraphs, Four Cases and Fifty Vacancy Laws

Sutherland amendment

Senator George Sutherland of Utah's amendment, adopted February 24, 1911, that restored Congress's power over Senate elections in the resolution then before the Senate. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Reform Movement: Populists, Progressives, the Oregon System and the Race Rider

T

Temporary appointment

A governor's appointment of a senator to serve until the people fill the vacancy by election, permitted only where the state legislature has empowered the governor to make it. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Text and the Courts: Three Paragraphs, Four Cases and Fifty Vacancy Laws

A governor's appointment to a vacant Senate seat under the Seventeenth Amendment's proviso, when the legislature has authorized it, until the people fill the seat by election. The Senate lists 210 such appointments since 1913. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Repeal, Reform and the Debate Today

The Treason of the Senate

David Graham Phillips's nine-part series in Hearst's Cosmopolitan, beginning February 17, 1906, portraying senators as agents of industrial and financial interests. The Senate Historical Office calls it largely fictionalized and credits it with galvanizing support for direct election. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Deadlocks, Vacancies and Scandals, 1866 to 1912: What Went Wrong with Legislative Election

Three-judge court

A federal district court panel of three judges, once required for suits to enjoin state statutes on constitutional grounds, with a direct appeal to the Supreme Court. Valenti v. Rockefeller was decided by one. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Text and the Courts: Three Paragraphs, Four Cases and Fifty Vacancy Laws

Two-thirds requirement

Article V's rule that an amendment must pass each house of Congress by two thirds of those voting before it goes to the states. A simple majority, as on February 28, 1911, is not enough. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Reform Movement: Populists, Progressives, the Oregon System and the Race Rider

U

Unfunded mandate

A federal requirement that state, local or tribal governments spend their own money to comply. The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 requires cost estimates for mandates of $50 million or more but does not ban them. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Federalism: The Case That It Changed Everything

V

Virginia Plan

The fifteen resolutions Edmund Randolph laid before the Convention on May 29, 1787, drafted largely by Madison, which proposed a national legislature of two branches with the second chosen by the first from state-nominated candidates. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Original Design: Why the Framers Gave Senate Elections to the State Legislatures

Viva voce

Voting aloud by name, so that each member's vote is recorded. The 1866 Act required it for Senate elections, over the objection of senators who preferred the secret ballot. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: How Legislatures Elected Senators, 1789 to 1866: Joint Ballots, Instructions, Contests and the Act of 1866

W

W-NOMINATE score

A statistical estimate of a legislator's ideological position derived from roll-call votes, used by Bernhard and Sala and others to track whether senators moved toward or away from their state's electorate. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: Federalism: The Case That It Changed Little

Writ of election

The state executive's formal order calling an election to fill a vacancy, naming the date. The amendment says the executive shall issue it; the Seventh Circuit read that as a duty. The Constitution and the 17th Amendment: History, Federalism and the Debate Today: The Text and the Courts: Three Paragraphs, Four Cases and Fifty Vacancy Laws