Building Careers and Courting Constituents: U.S. Senate Representation 1889–1924

From 1788 to 1913, the basic model for the election of U.S. senators was based on state legislatures serving as intermediaries between the people and their senators. The Framers' intent in constructing indirect elections to the U.S. Senate was to help insulate senators from sudden and drastic shifts of public opinion that could lead to senators enacting detrimental national policies (Federalist 63). Underlying this “insulation” was the supposition that indirect elections, combined with a six-year term, would create a different electoral environment for senators than for their counterparts in the House, and would thus produce a legislator who would not be directly responsive to individual constituents.