I wouldn't miss the Senate for a minute, but just
to be ornery, let me point out (try and stop me)
that in practice the 25th small state can always
be bought off on a measure of interest to the larger
25, as long as it doesn't go to the fundamental
issue of senatorial representation. The small states
are sufficiently diverse to admit of radically different
sectional interests (i.e., Delaware and Wyoming).
Everybody's got their price.
mbs
In practice, this means that legislation can be obstructed by the
senators in the 25 smallest states, who represent something like 12% of
the population.
Joel Blau
Doug Henwood wrote:
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> >The most particularly undemocratic feature of the Constitution I
> >dislike most is the Senate, which gives Wyoming and Rhode Island
> >equal influence in the upper house of the legislature to California
> >or New York. That is a feature I would get rid of.
>
> Unforutnately you can't, because the sacred Constitution says that
> the Senate can only be abolished with unanimous consent of the
> states, which is obviously never going to happen. So, short of a
> revolution, the U.S. is stuck with this undemocratic body forever.
>
> Doug
