Changes in the American Government

Throughout the lifespan of the American government, there have been changes to the different branches. One cannot simply claim that they are exactly as the Founding Fathers had designed them and pictured them; they have become so much more. Among these changes are the adoption of the 17th Amendment, the general surrender of control of power to the executive branch, and the centralization of power to a couple of congressional leaders in recent years. These are some of the most important changes that have altered the Congress and the American government in general.

One of the essential changes that was mentioned near the beginning of the course was that of the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution. The Founders originally intended that the Senators would be “one step removed from popular voting” (Davidson, Oleszek, and Lee 2010, 5). They accomplished this by have them chosen by the state legislators instead of the actual citizens themselves (Davidson, Oleszek, and Lee 2010, 42). The purpose was that the Framers hoped that establishing the Senate differently would enable them to be able to “add stability and wisdom to the actions of the popularly elected House” (Davidson, Oleszek, and Lee 2010, 42). However, eventually in 1913, both the Congress and the states approved the Seventeenth Amendment in hopes of making America more democratic by the direct election of the senators (Davidson, Oleszek, and Lee 2010, 24; Rossum 2003, para. 3). This primarily was in response to the active pressuring of the progressive movement during this time period (Davidson, Oleszek, and Lee 2010, 24; Rossum 2003, para. 3). They had hoped to curb the control and shady deals facilitated by special interest groups (Davidson, Oleszek, and...

... middle of paper ...

... how much the current Congress has altered from the original intent of the Framers. It will be interesting to note the changes in the coming years as Congress is faced with harder challenges and difficult situations.

Works Cited

Cooper, Joseph. 2009. “From Congressional in Presidential Preeminence.” In Congress Reconsidered, eds. Lawrence C. Dodd and Bruce I. Oppenheimer. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press.

Davidson, Roger H., Oleszek, W. J., and Lee, Francis L. 2010. Congress and Its Members. Washington, DC: CQ Press.

Rossum, Ralph A. 2003. “The Seventeenth Amendment and the Death of Federalism.” Presented at the Panel on Republicanism, Federalism, and the Constitution, Williamsburg, VA.

Smith, Steven S., and Gerald Gamm. “The Dynamics of Party Government in Congress.” In Congress Reconsidered, eds. Lawrence C. Dodd and Bruce I. Oppenheimer. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press.