The horizontal division is necessary but not sufficient:
The Seventeenth Amendment mandates the direct election of the Senate. This left the States without any voice in the Federal Government. It also opened the door for a combination of factions acting as an unrestrained majority seeking the benefit of some at the expense of others.
The keystone to the Framers' design was the vertical separation of powers between the states and the government of their creation.
Restoration of free government is impossible without repeal of the 17A.
Excellent point. Sadly, will never happen.
17th was perhaps the first abandonment of the Constitution and crack in the foundation that opened the door for so much more.......