Who is supposed to represent the people?

Americans know their Constitution, don't they? We are quick to tell each other we do. To be honest I don't think many of us really do. Oh sure, we know there are three branches of government at the federal level, 50 state governments and a slew of local county, city and town systems in place. But the Constitution is specific to only one set portion of our government and that is the Federal Government.

But what does the Constitution really tell us about the Federal Government? Does it give it the rights it has or does it limit the rights it can take? This is a fundamental question because most people really don't understand why the Constitution was written.

How many of you know that the after the writing of the Constitution there was a real battle on passing it in the states? Not everyone was in love with the idea of a Federal Government, least of which were the state governments themselves. The original 13 states already had individual constitutions that they thought were perfect to simple copy and paste into the new consolidated Federal Constitution. Unfortunately, they all had different things in them and nobody could agree. Some had the "Governor" (I use that word instead of President as today it has a very different meaning) capable of creating law and then offering it to the state congress for approval, others required the congress to write the law with the governor. They also had a huge issue in front of them in the Articles of Confederation, our first nationalized form of government. People forget that the Constitution was not the original foundation for this country. In fact it was the failure of the Articles of Confederation that brought forth the convention in Philadelphia to rework it as needed or scrap it in favor of another form of government.

You see the Articles had flaws, major flaws that kept the federal government from being able to do its job as defined under the Confederation. Some examples include raising an army, it was supposed to do so in times of need but had no way to raise revenue to pay for such a thing. It was completely subordinate to the states for everything meaning we really were not all that united to begin with. Thirteen different opinions and leadership groups makes it hard to get anything done.

So some real smart guys got together and came up with the Constitution. Their mandate was simple: "appointment of commissioners to take into consideration the situation of the United States; to devise such further provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render the Constitution of the federal government adequate to the exigencies of the Union; and to report such an act for the purpose to the United States Congress assembled, as when agreed to by them, and afterwards confirmed by the legislature of every State, will effectually provide for the same" James Madison as Publius, Federalist Paper No. 40. It was so resolved by Congress that the meeting in Philadelphia had the sole purpose "of revising the articles of Confederation and reporting to Congress" those changes needed to ensure the Constitution "adequate to the exigencies of government and the preservation of the Union." Madison as Publius, Federalist Paper No. 40.

It was in this meeting that the Constitution was developed as alteration to the Articles of Confederation were thought to be less than adequate to the task at hand. So from this point the House of Representatives and the Senate were created in their modern incarnation.

So who represents us; that was the original question? Most people say it would be the Congress in total and the President. But that isn't exactly the situation.

The President is to serve as Executive of the county, the CEO so to speak. He is responsible according to the Constitution for the following:

Section. 2.

Clause 1: The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

Clause 2: He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

Clause 3: The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

That's all the founders wrote about his job. Seems simple to understand; play the part of CEO for the country.So does that sound as if he is there to represent the people? His Oath of Office is clear as to what he is supposed to do, "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." So according to this he is there to represent the Constitution and to defend it.

So maybe its the Senate that is supposed to represent the people. Well according to the original constitution that isn't really the case either. Originally they were appointed by the State legislatures meaning they were there to represent the interests of the many states. The Senate is the safeguard for the States against a federal government taking too much power from them. as Madison write in Federalist Paper No. 59, "Its propriety rests upon the evidence of this plain proposition, that every government ought to contain within itself the means of its own preservation". So what does this mean? It means simply that the States should have in place a representative to support their interests as sovereign individuals being present in everything the federal government does.

Now today, despite the fact that Senators are no longer appointed but are elected by popular vote of the citizens it does not change the reason they are there. We elect them to support our individual state's needs within the greater federal government. So Senators do not represent the people.

It is in the House of Representatives that we find the representation of the peoples voice. It is for this reason that there are more of them in order to take a greater pulse of the people in all matters great and small. This representation was one of the most hotly debated concepts in the formation of the Constitution. The historical record of Great Britain was looks at carefully as were the parliamentary systems of many countries and the individual states because is was of the utmost importance that the people's rights and voice were well represented in the federal government as well as the States. It was from this position that the idea to elect representative more often was created, that the entire Congress must meet yearly, that it should be based on population and most importantly that it needed to be based on the people's popular vote.

What we find today is a mess. Senators claiming to represent the people while bringing home the bacon when it is not always needed. The states were expected to lead in peace time and the federal government in times of war. This is explained through out the writings of the founding fathers. Presidents claim to represent the "little guy", the "American worker" and the "folks without a voice." We have a voice, a very clear voice. You go do what your job is and defend the constitution.

It is with this in mind that every vote should be cast in the future. It is because of improper education in our country that it all to often is not.

But what would I know; I'm just an Average American.