Cultural Change for the We the People Amendment

eleventh in the series

'The Bosses of the Senate' (23 January 1889). Joseph Keppler

Many U.S. constitutional amendments have addressed adding rights that were not included in the original document, revised elections for the President or changed the balance of power between the states and the federal government. The 17th Amendment is the only Amendment that deals with the structure of Congress.

The U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 3, states: “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.” 

The effort to allow voters to directly elect U.S. senators was initially proposed during the constitutional convention by James Wilson, a lawyer from Pennsylvania who would later become one of the original Supreme Court Justices. He was the lone supporter. The framers thought that senators chosen by state legislatures would create legislators who would, supposedly, be more deliberate and independent when considering issues.

The issue resurfaced decades later as several U.S. Representatives introduced the Amendment in the early 1850’s. Future President Andrew Johnson, while serving as a Congressperson, proposed the Amendment in 1857.  

The momentum for the popular vote for senators increased during the next half-century over two issues: electoral deadlocks and corruption.

Our Right and Duty to Create an Equitable Democracy & Constitution

Move to Amend
https://www.movetoamend.org/

It is Celebration Time! 

15th Anniversary of the Monahan Walk Across the US

October was a month of grit, creativity, and people-powered progress across the Move to Amend network. From the Midwest to the Deep South, our affiliates and advocates are proving once again that when the message is clear and the mission is just, people are eager to join the fight to end corporate rule.

Cultural Change for the We the People Amendment

tenth in the series

The Populist movement of the late 19th century was the largest democratic mass movement in U.S. history. The movement included several parallel but independent organizations of farmers in the South, Midwest and High Plains. The movement later included urban working people across the country

Among the social movements covered in this series, the Populist movement is the least recognized (dare I say “popular”) and understood. Few can name any of its organizers, strategists or speakers (William Jennings Bryan doesn’t count, as explained below). There are no Populist movement holidays, postage stamps, detailed descriptions of its activities in high school history books, or even legitimate recognition of its lessons (positive or negative) incorporated in democratic activist organizations.  

The movement’s relative invisibility can be explained by several factors. First, it was largely a rural movement that was the most active in a part of the country (i.e. the Midwest and South) not associated with the mass social movements. Second, it occurred during a period of U.S. history that was dominated by the rapid rise of industrialization and urbanization.  And maybe, most significantly, its goals of creating an authentic bottom up democracy and bringing the corporate state under popular control through democratic politics, a democratic society grounded in mass dignity, was not going to see the light of day in our dominant corporate culture, which includes reformist non-profit democracy organizations.

Move to Amend supporter Patrick McKercher has produced an important and timely documentary:

American Oligarchy: Five Fights

https://vimeo.com/1129606502

Narrated by Peter Coyote, the 39 minute documentary tells the story of the five times We the People have organized to defeat attempts to end our democracy, and what we can learn to meet the current crisis.  It uses the playbook of Hungary's Victor Orban to understand Trump’s second term – the sixth crisis we face. 

The 5 previous threats and the current one are

Watch the excellent program at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnrbyYaH6yU

🏛️ Congressional update:

{{recipient.first_name_or_friend}}, another government shutdown is upon us. Once again, working families are forced to go without paychecks, small businesses lose customers, and communities lose vital services. Meanwhile, corporate interests continue to collect their subsidies, tax breaks, and special access.

This dysfunction isn’t an accident—it’s a strategy. Manufactured crises are used to justify privatization of public goods, funneling our tax dollars into corporate profits while leaving us with higher costs and fewer services. It’s corporate rule at work.

That’s why we need the We the People Amendment (H.J.R. 54) —to end corporate power and put human needs first.

Even in the middle of this chaos, our movement is gaining traction!