There was significant variance in opinion among the Framers on this question. Some of the attendees at the Philadelphia Convention, George Mason from Virginia in particular, argued that the Presidency and the Senate should be chosen by the popular vote.
But the Framers in general did not trust the ability of ordinary Americans—at least non-property owners—to make reasoned, intelligent decisions about politics. However, Americans were always involved in political affairs. One example of this was the ratification process for the Constitution itself. Americans read the Constitution as well as the various commentaries written on it. They publicly debated its measures in taverns and other forums, and sometimes brawled with their opponents. In many states, ordinary Americans voted for delegates to their ratification conventions. There was even a phrase used by political elites to describe the political actions of ordinary people—politics "out of doors."
Over time, Americans became involved in politics even more directly. Voting rights were extended to all white men in most states (all states in the North) before the Civil War, and women became directly involved in politics through reform organizations in the North. In the decades following the Civil War, African-American men received the right to vote, though it was stripped from them in the Jim Crow South. During the Progressive Era, some states adopted such democratic measures as the initiative and the referendum, and the Sixteenth Amendment gave Americans the right to vote for their Senators.
Women received the franchise with the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, and the civil rights struggles—themselves a potent and meaningful form of political expression—resulted in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which protected the rights of all Americans to vote. The point is that Americans have always been involved in politics, even if they could not formally vote.
In terms of liberty and freedom established in the Constitution, political action and activism has largely been about making claims on these concepts, forcing Americans as a whole to expand their meaning. American culture, if not American political structures, has always been highly democratic.
https://constitutioncenter.org/media/files/popvote.pdf
The development of the initiative, referendum, and recall at the state level helped ordinary citizens become more involved in political matters. Citizens are able to recall some elected officials who aren’t doing their job or who aren’t properly representing their constituents. Citizens also may determine the fate of various proposed ideas if these ideas are put to a binding referendum. This concept is often used when voters decide if a local school system may exceed its revenue limits. Through the use of the initiative, citizens may also introduce legislation. None of the practices are found in the Constitution. The Founding Fathers had little confidence that regular people could make important political decisions.
Various practices regarding who was allowed to vote have expanded over time. At first, white males who owned property were allowed to vote. Eventually, the property requirement was dropped. Candidates were originally chosen by party leaders prior to the use of nominating convention in which party members chose the candidates. African Americans and women gained voting rights and/or had them protected through constitutional amendments. Women got the right to vote with the Nineteenth Amendment, while people couldn’t be denied voting rights based on their race or color with the Fifteenth Amendment. The Seventeenth Amendment allowed citizens to elect their senators. Prior to this amendment, the state legislatures chose them.
Citizens have increased their involvement by being politically aware of issues. Recently, many protests, demonstrations, and rallies have been held by ordinary citizens to support or oppose policies, proposed laws, and court rulings that deal with important issues such as health care, abortion, gay marriage, immigration, and the implementation of tariffs.
One way in which private citizens became involved in the political process was through literature.
I'll choose two famous writers to illustrate this: Frederick Douglass and Harriet Beecher Stowe. In his autobiography, Douglass described his successful struggle to break free of the system of slavery. His book was widely read in Europe and influenced world opinion as much as it did that of the abolitionist movement in the US. The same is true, of course, of Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. It's undeniable that the enormous sales of her novel were at least partly responsible for the increase in public sentiment against slavery, and the simultaneous entrenched reaction of Southern elites against Northern "interference" with their "peculiar institution."
A second way citizens became involved was through individual activism, including violence deemed necessary under the circumstances. Though John Brown's methods have been criticized over the decades even by anti-slavery historians and by people in general, there is little doubt that his raid on Harper's Ferry was a factor in bringing the sectional issue to a head and triggering war a year and a half later. Brown was mistaken in believing he could foment a general uprising of enslaved people that would bring down not only the system of slavery, but also (as he wished) the government of the United States, which itself was complicit in that system. But his actions, like the books mentioned above, galvanized people on both sides of the issue and were instrumental in bringing on the war which did result in emancipation.
The Founding Fathers certainly did not think that the ordinary citizen had the capacity to be concerned with politics. The Founders actually feared this because they thought that ordinary citizens would be governed by their own selfish interests and would vote for things that helped them without considering the long-term health of the state. Since the time of the Founding Fathers, the government has allowed for the direct election of representatives. The Seventeenth Amendment allows for senators to be elected directly by the people. Before this, senators were elected by state legislatures.
Since the time of the Founders the electorate has also grown. African Americans gained the right to vote in 1870. Women received the right to vote in 1920, and the voting age was lowered to eighteen in 1971. The government expanded the electorate after these groups campaigned for the right to vote in order to safeguard their interests.
Today the media keeps citizens involved in the governmental process through news shows, print articles, and pundits. The ordinary citizen has more stake in the government than ever before thanks to the income tax and various entitlement programs. While the Founders hoped that only a small class of citizens would handle the governance of the country with the benefit of all citizens in mind, the expectation now is that everyone should be invested in politics. This change in American political thought has led to more discourse and a more involved citizenry than ever before.
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