The US senator - selection and role Research Paper

The US senator - selection and role - Research Paper Example The US Senate is called the Upper House of the United States Congress. Every State has two senators irrespective of its geographical area or population. The US Senate chamber is located in the north wing of the Capitol, Washington. The Senate enjoys a lot of nationally important powers; regarding approval of treaties, cabinet secretaries, military officers and federal judges and many more.Elections to the Senate are conducted on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November in even-numbered years. Each state of the US is represented by two senators. Before 1913, senators were selected by the legislatures of each state. However, after the 17th Amendment, popular election was made mandatory. The one who wins the highest number of votes is considered the winner. Before the 17th Amendment, Article 1, Section 3 of the Constitution allowed each state to select two senators. It seems that the purpose of the legislation makers was to enable the senators to function free from any pressur e the part of public. However, problems soon came up. For instance, the conflict between Democrats and Republican Party resulted in vacant senator seat in Indiana for two years. This was followed by innumerous cases of bribery and other unlawfulness. It was in 1911 that Senator Joseph Bristow suggested an amendment of the constitution that won huge support. As a result, the 17th amendment took birth which starts â€Å"The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators fro each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years†¦Ã¢â‚¬  ... However, this opinion seems baseless as most popularly elected senators would have been elected as senators even without any amendment. So the assumption that the 17th amendment had any effect on the federal power seems baseless. Again, the assumption that state always opposes the federal power is baseless. In fact, it is a well-acknowledged fact that states are always on the run for more federal grants and are always dependent on it. However, certainly there are serious set backs of this amendment. Basic qualifications required to become a Senator There are three basic requirements put forward by Article 1, Section 3 of the Constitution. Firstly, the senator should be aged 30 years or more and secondly, the person should be a citizen of the United States for the past nine years and thirdly, should be presently residing in the state he or she wants to contest in. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution introduces provision to remove any senator who has acted against the State. Term of Service and benefits Each senator shall serve for a staggered six years term. However, the senators are divided into three classes in the senate and the service of one class expires after every two years. So, the election to one-third of the positions comes every two years. Each senator enjoys a lot of benefits starting from an annual salary of $ 174,000. In addition, they receive retirement and health benefits on retirement which are similar to other federal employees. The Senators representing state attitude The state division in the US is very crucial in the national politics. In such a huge country, it seems an impossible proposition to divide the national data and find state-wise patterns. Hence, giving the states equal representation in the Senate through their senators is