When Judges Make Foreign Policy. "In a globalized, post-9/11 age, decisions made by the Supreme Court are increasingly shaping America's international relations. When the next justice is appointed, our place in the world may well hang in the balance."
posted by homunculus on Sep 29, 2008 - 11 comments

The Twelfth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution has serviced the two-party system since 1804, but not without controversy. Little known about Amendment XII is that it requires an absolute majority of over half of the electoral college to win, currently 270 out of 538. If not, as in the case of third party state victories, or a tie of 269 each, the House of Representatives then selects the president from the top three contenders, with each state delegation having only one vote (also requiring a majority). Here's what the selection might look like today, advantage Democrats. However, it is the newly elected House that gets to decide the issue by the following March 4th (with the current VP ascending by default of indecision).
posted by Brian B. on Sep 13, 2008 - 25 comments

"The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof...." The Seventeeth Amendement provides for the direct election of U.S. Senators. Originally, Article I Section 3 of the United States Constition provided that each state's senators be chosen by that state's legislature.

The Populist Party platform from 1892 on, called for direct senatorial election; and the Progressive movment made it, along with Prohibition (18th Amendment) and Women's Suffrage (19th), a cornerstone of reform. The 17th was ratified 8 April 1913, when the required 36th of 48 states, Connecticut, approved it. Utah, however, had rejected it 41 days earlier, on 26 February 1913. Although Utah never subsequently ratified it, the 17th Amendment, as part of the Federal Constitution, applies in Utah as in all U.S. States.

But in the name of re-invigorating States' Rights, some on the Right -- and some less easy to label -- have called for the repeal of the 17th Amendement. In 2003 Montana's Senate, after passing it out of committee, indefinitely postponed by floor vote a bill calling on Congress to repeal the 17th. Now, the President of Utah's 29-member State Senate [pdf], with 19 co-sponsers, thinks he's figured out a way around the Constitution's 17th Amendment. Debate on the S.B. 156 began yesterday.
posted by orthogonality on Jan 25, 2006 - 52 comments

Milestones. On the same day that Iraqi election officials have reported the draft constitution having passed, U.S. sources are reporting that the American military death toll in Iraq has reached 2,000 people.
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Oct 25, 2005 - 73 comments

Foreign-born presidents reviewed again. NYT link. Some previous discussion here.
posted by yoga on Oct 6, 2004 - 21 comments

It turns out before the election, representatives introduced a bi-partisan bill in both the House (H.J. Res. 113) and the Senate (S.J. Res. 56) to amend the Constitution to replace the electoral college with the direct election of the President and Vice President. Contact your reps to ask them to support the bills. If we're going to get electoral reform, it will be now.
posted by veruca on Nov 12, 2000 - 17 comments