The Senate was not a mess as it is today. And the States had a lot of power whereas today they have none.
The local state legislator is a neighbor who can’t run and hide. The US Senator can hide and send you weasel words. You have ZERO power over a US Senator unless you’re a one percenter.
As for people repealing the 17th, they will do so when they are offered to trade a vote to elect for a vote to recall; a power to fire rather than hire. Recall empowers, places people on the preferred board, rather than as common shareholders. Recall is much, much more powerful.
That's odd, last time I checked, my state senator is a Chicago DemocRAT who was gerrymandered into a mostly suburban district. The 20% of the district in the city is in an ultra Democrat turf that votes 95% D so they get to dictate who "represents" the rest of us, regardless of how the REST of the district votes.
He had no problem "running and hiding" from his constituents when he made some statement about shutting down home schooling in this state and we tried to melt down the phone lines in his Springfield office. Very rarely does he EVER meet with "his" constituents in the suburbs. He's a loyal Mike Madigan puppet and pretty much rubber stamps whatever the Illinois House Speaker tells him to, despite being a member of the other house.
Sorry reality doesn't gel with your talking points.
Ironic. You realize Recall was started during the SAME "progressive era" from 1913-1917 that the 16th and 17th amendment came out of, right? Yep, the SAME era you're claiming that ANYTHING created during that time period is AUTOMATICALLY evil because Woodrow Wilson was President.
The framers of the U.S. constitution considered the possibility of allowing Recall of federal and state officials, but REJECTED it. They strongly felt politicians should only be removed by impeachment, so that is what became the law of the land in 1787.
In the early 20th century, the Progressive Movement, especially in western states, sought more direct democracy by promoting the enactment of Recall laws. California lead the effort in 1912, a product of "progressive leader" Hiram Johnson's campaign promise. By 1920, about a dozen states had successfully enactment such provisions. North Dakota (also under "progressive" rule at the time) was the first state to successfully recall a statewide official, in 1921.