On Wed, 27 Oct 2004, Carrol Cox wrote:
>>> [CLIP] Passing a constitutional amendment is difficult, but it's not a
>>> revolution. No more than the amendment that established direct election
>>> of senators in 1913.
>
> What social pressures in 1913 led to that amendment being proposed and
> approved?
Populism. And in particular, the influence of William Jennings Bryan, who was Secretary of State at the time and had an incredible personal influence over the Senate even when he wasn't in government. The same Senate that wouldn't ratify the League of Nations for Wilson would ratify amendment after amendment for him. The direct elections of Senators amendment was in some ways his least impressive. Far more amazing was that he managed to get the Senate to pass both the amendment that gave women the vote and the prohibition amendment in the midst of WWI when he himself was out of government. And that he not only got them both ratified on the Senate floor, his influence over statehouses was such that they were both ratified by the country within a couple of years. It was a remarkable performance, almost impossible to imagine today, especially when you through in that all the major media loathed him. The populist alliance behind him was the last time that the South -- and evangelical Christianity -- was foursquare in the liberal camp. And ironically, the prohibition amendment -- the cultural wedge issue of its time -- was one of the major factors in splitting that alliance, and letting the right back into power for the next dozen years after 20 years of fitful but noticeable reform.
Michael