WW1: Democratic Reforms: Chris Honaker

Democratic Reforms

                Some progressives were focused on making the government a more democratic system and rely more on what the people had to say.  Republican governor of Wisconsin, Robert M. La Follette, Pushed to pass the law that demanded that political parties had to have a direct primary. All party members would vote for one person that would run in the general election. This spread to other states throughout the nation. He also pushed to pass the initiative, referendum, and recall, all of which were to expand the rights and influence of the voters.

                They also took aim on the way that the senate was being elected. Corruption allowed political machines and businesses to have major influences on how these elections were decided. Many times the candidates would return the favor supplying their supporters with federal contracts and jobs. To put an end to this, progressives tried to push for direct elections of the senate by the people. In 1912 congress passed the direct-elections amendment, but this also took away one of the legislatures’ checks on federal balance. In turn, in 1913 the amendment was ratified and became the 17^th amendment.