Letters: Is the Senate Representative Enough?
The Path to Give California 12 Senators, and Vermont Just One
Earlier this month, Eric W. Orts argued that the time has come to reevaluate the apportionment of the Senate. “Today the voting power of a citizen in Wyoming, the smallest state in terms of population, is about 67 times that of a citizen in the largest state of California,” Orts wrote, “and the disparities among the states are only increasing.” Orts proposed what he called a “Senate Reform Act,” legislation that would allocate one seat to each state automatically, and apportion another 60 seats based on population.
Professor Orts’s “solution” puts us on a path to a European parliamentary model, where the United States becomes the Subordinate States of America. Under his plan, the Senate, being of the same makeup as the House, would become irrelevant within a decade and would be abolished. The electoral college would fall, and the president would become a prime minister. States would cease to be relevant political bodies—instead they would be merely administrative districts—and we would be subject to an all-powerful central government in Washington, D.C.
Dave Smith
Leawood, Kan.
This is long overdue. I see our country slipping into revolt as a result of what we have now. This seems to accelerate with each election. We cannot continue down a road that excludes the majority from taking the helm in a democracy. The path we are on now clearly gives the wealthy and powerful the exclusive right to rule America.
Robert Peacock
I have a better idea: one senator from each state, elected for a six-year term, and 50 senators elected at-large for 12-year terms. This is more equitable, and provides more people in the federal government who represent all the people, and not just one state.
Daniel R. Van Wyk
Everett, Wash.
Shouldn’t it be done on the model of the United Nations, the world’s most progressive, most inclusive, most fair and equal major political body? One state, one vote!
Louis F. Sander
Pittsburgh, Pa.
While Mr. Orts’s idea of majority rule sounds wonderful, there is a big pitfall in it.
For four years I was mayor of a small rural community in California, where legislature is by majority rule. There was never any concern in the legislature about the effect of legislation on the small and rural areas of the state. It was all about what the big cities wanted; small and rural areas were negated or ignored and thus problems never addressed.
Should Mr. Orts’s idea be adopted, there would be the same result. New York, New England, and the West Coast would be making decisions for all of the country, and vast areas of the United States would be ignored.
This is not in the best interests of all of the United States, just the big,
