Changes
Before the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment, the Senate was comprised of senators selected by state legislatures rather than elected by the people, and they legislature refused for years to pass this amendment. With the help of Woodrow Wilson's methodical, effective but destructive use of [[propaganda]], the states resorted to an alternative mechanism for amendment, bypassing Congress and passing resolutions that called for a constitutional convention. When nearly enough states (2/3rd of the United States) had passed resolutions for a constitutional convention, the Senate averted a constitutional convention by finally passing the Seventeenth Amendment and sending it to the states for ratification.
The amendment has been criticized , including by some [[conservative]]s, for eroding the principle of [[Federalism]] that the Constitution was based on. <ref>Byas, Steve (August 14, 2019). [https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/item/33138-oklahoma-plan-to-open-d-c-office-illustrates-mistake-of-the-17th-amendment Oklahoma Plan to Open D.C. Office Illustrates Mistake of the 17th Amendment]. ''The New American''. Retrieved August 14, 2019.</ref> On the other hand, the proponents of the amendment claim that the prior system allowed for Senators to buy the votes of the legislators that elected them.
==Background==
