Minorityism, or tyranny of the minority

“The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State.” (U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 3, clause 1)

With that single sentence, the framers of the Constitution doomed our country to a tyranny of the minority: less than half of the country’s population is represented by 82 out of 100 senators. How did that happen? During the summer of 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia established equal representation for each state in the Senate, but representation in proportion to population in the House of Representatives; it was called the “Great Compromise.”

In the weeks before the framers agreed to the compromise, the delegates from the states with large populations argued that each state’s representation in the Senate should correspond to the size of the state. They endorsed James Madison’s Virginia Plan, which was the basis for several of the clauses in the Constitution. Under this plan, both the Senate and the House would base their membership on the same proportional “right of suffrage”; i.e. the number of senators from each state would be determined by its population of free citizens and slaves. In that case, large states stood to gain the most seats in the Senate. As justification, they noted that their states contributed more of the nation’s financial and defensive resources than small states, and therefore were entitled to a greater say in government.

Small-state delegates, fearing the effects of majority rule a/k/a/ democracy, demanded equal representation in Congress as specified in the Articles of Confederation, an agreement among the 13 original states in 1777 that served as the first constitution; some framers threatened to withdraw from the convention if a proportional representation measure passed.

Connecticut’s Roger Sherman suggested that Congress represent the people as well as the states, and proposed that House representation be based on population, while in the Senate, the states would be represented equally. Benjamin Franklin agreed that each state should have an equal vote in the Senate except in matters concerning money. On July 16, the delegates narrowly adopted the mixed representation plan which gave each state two senators.

The Constitution’s bias toward small states is more problematic now than it was 233 years ago because it accurately reflects the issues separating the two parties, including cultural, racial, and religious diversity, and a changing economy. As small and large states separate further along those lines in the years ahead, the constitutional compromise that provided each state two senators will exacerbate growing tensions.

An analysis of Senate votes 1901 to 2018 found that senators voting in the majority now represent a historically low proportion of the country’s population, even though Democrats won the popular vote for senators by more than 8 percent over the last six years. The Senate confirmed Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court by a vote of 50 to 48 – one Democrat voted with the Republicans – representing 44 percent of the country’s population. Gorsuch was confirmed by 54 senators representing only 45 percent of the population. Similarly, circuit court judges, several other of President Trump’s nominations, the 2017 tax cuts, and ten laws rolling back Obama-era regulations passed with 50 senators representing 43 percent of the population voting in favor.

The Senate will soon conduct Trump’s impeachment trial. Even though voters are split nearly 50-50 on removing him from office, it would take 67 votes to do that. Fat chance.

The House is somewhat more of a democracy. Democrats have faced an uphill battle since a Republican wave in 2010 enabled the GOP to gerrymander the congressional maps in a majority of states. For example, an analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice of the 2012 mid-term election showed that in states where Republicans controlled redistricting, their candidates won 53 percent of the vote but took 72 percent of the seats.

In 2018, Democrats won a majority of House seats for the first time since 2008. Their candidates won 52 percent of the House vote nationwide, taking 53 percent of House seats. Republicans on the other hand have often won a larger percentage of House seats than their percentage of the vote; in fact, they have secured House majorities while winning less than 50 percent of the vote in four elections since 2000.

Conservatives write about the Constitution as if came from God on stone tablets. The truth is, the Constitution is the product of extraordinary men, products of their time

As Thomas Jefferson wrote, “I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and Constitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.”

Mark Berg is a community activist in Adams County and a proud Liberal. His email address is MABerg175@Comcast.net.