The senate is not really democratic. 20 million more people voted for Democratic candidates in Senate elections than for Republican candidates . . . but Republicans control the senate.
I expect that after this election that number will be even higher.
God Bless me for dipping my toe into an Off Topic thread, but...
Re the Senate debate, and as a "classic" liberal myself, I am always struck by how much modern progressives loathe counter-majoritarian measures.
The entire purpose of the Bill of Rights is to be counter-majoritarian. In other words, a duly elected majority cannot invade a minority's rights. We could not ban Islam, for example, even though, after 9/11, Americans sadly might have wanted to. But that was never even on the table, because there is an extent to which pure bloodsport majority rule stops. Progressives seem to agree and acknowledge that this is a key part of a functioning Western democracy.
Yet when it comes to other counter-majoritarian measures, they are "not democratic." Really? That only applies if you have created your own definition of "democracy" as pure and absolute "rule by the majority," which is not what a democracy is. A democracy is just a system of government wherein people elect their representatives. How that is devised is then up to a million different forms.
The legislative branch was intended to be the most powerful branch of government, and thus a Senate was devised to protect smaller states from being bludgeoned by larger states. And note that the Senate is not always counter-majoritarian. I would wager that it often reflects the majority and that what we are experiencing right now is not usually what happens.
Of course, and because of these current times, the modern thought is that this is a Republican phenomenon, but Democratic Senators from small states (New England states, Montana, Oregon, West Virginia, etc.) all have Democratic representation in the Senate. The map can change! Democrats may eventually benefit.
So, you're never going to convince me on amending the Constitution regarding the Senate. Small states need a voice, and take that voice away and they would simply leave the Union. The Electoral College debate is much more intriguing and persuasive.
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