The Electoral College

The new Constitution created not a democracy, but a republic. While democracy is based on majority rule, republics are based on the premise that elected legislators should represent citizens' interests. The Constitution contains several features designed to limit direct democracy. The House of Representatives was the most democratic part of the government, because it was directly elected by the voters. Representatives had terms of only two years, so that the House would be very responsive to voters' wishes. The Senate was much less democratic: originally, senators were not elected directly by the voters, but by state legislators. (Senators were not directly elected by the voters until 1913). Also, senators had six-year terms, so that, once elected, a senator was somewhat insulated from voters' wishes. Finally, only one-third of the Senate was elected every two years, so that the make-up of the Senate could be changed only gradually, while the House of Representatives could be changed much more quickly, since each seat in the House was up for election every two years.