How is legislature chosen

Intimidation and bribery marked some of the states' selection of senators. Nine bribery cases were brought before the Senate between and In addition, 45 deadlocks occurred in 20 states between and , resulting in numerous delays in seating senators.

In problems in electing a senator in Delaware were so acute that the state legislature did not send a senator to Washington for four years. The impetus for reform began as early as , when direct election of senators was first proposed.

In the s, voters sent a petition to the House of Representatives for a popular election. From to , momentum increased considerably. Each year during that period, a constitutional amendment to elect senators by popular vote was proposed in Congress, but the Senate fiercely resisted change, despite the frequent vacancies and disputed election results.

In the mids, the Populist Party incorporated the direct election of senators into its party platform, although neither the Democrats nor the Republicans paid much notice at the time. In the early s, one state initiated changes on its own. Oregon pioneered direct election and experimented with different measures over several years until it succeeded in Soon after, Nebraska followed suit and laid the foundation for other states to adopt measures reflecting the people's will.

Senators who resisted reform had difficulty ignoring the growing support for direct election of senators.

However, most democracies in the world today use the parliamentary system as opposed to a presidential system like that used in the United States. Defining characteristics of the parliamentary system are the supremacy of the legislative branch within the three functions of government—executive, legislative, and judicial—and blurring or merging of the executive and legislative functions.

The legislative function is conducted through a unicameral one-chamber or bicameral two-chamber parliament composed of members accountable to the people they represent.

A prime minister and the ministers of several executive departments of the government primarily carry out the executive function.

The prime minister usually is the leader of the majority party, if there is one, or the leader of one of the parties in the ruling coalition. Some ceremonial executive duties are carried out by a symbolic head of state — a hereditary king or queen in a democratic constitutional monarchy, such as Great Britain, Japan, Norway, or Spain, or an elected president or chancellor in a democratic constitutional republic such as Germany, Italy, or Latvia.

More than years later, the court revisited the question in Bush v. The court has declared that states have the right to take back the choice of electors from the people — but has cautioned that they may not do so easily. State legislatures would almost certainly have to pass a new law or resolution to make any change. In each state, a majority of legislators would have to agree.

Historically, courts have respected legislative decisions to change how a state appoints electors so long as the changes happen before the election happens, not after the ballots are cast. Post-election changes of the kind the Trump campaign is reportedly contemplating would cause confusion around two federal laws that directly contradict each other. Under political systems employing the separation of powers model, the legislative branch of government has the authority to pass legislation and regulate government taxation and spending, as well as other powers such as approving executive or judicial appointments.

In the United States, the legislative branch of government is called Congress, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, both of which are elected and possess roughly equal legislative powers. Laws passed through both houses are known as Acts of Congress, which are subsequently enforced and implemented by the executive branch of government, and interpreted and applied by the judiciary.