Jim Breen wrote:
> CL wrote:
>> Jim Breen wrote:
>>> Direct election of US senators became nation-wide in 1913 with the
>>> 17th amendment. Before then it varied, with many states having their
>>> legislature selecting the senators. The framers of the Australian
>>> constitution considered the (then) US-style indirect election (still
>>> used in Germany, etc.) in the 1890s, but went for direct election.
>> 1913???  
> 
> Yep. That's when the 17th was ratified by enough states.

... and it was abused for much longer than that due to a number of
things also happening in the US.

>> Apparently, you've never heard of the State of Louisiana (the
>> only US state whose laws are not based on the British legal system --
>> and, some would argue, no one else's either) or The Kingfish (Huey
>> Long), and neither has the person who wrote the above into Wikipaedia.
>> Thanks for the quote, though ...
> 
> Read the amendment:
> http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.amendmentxvii.html
> 
> Where does it mention Louisiana is different from the rest?

Louisiana's constitution and state laws are based upon the Napoleonic
Code, not the Anglo-American tradition.  The state also has several very
distinct and unique racial, linguistic, and religious combinations not
found elsewhere except, maybe certain villages in rural Haiti.  If you
enjoy mysteries / crime fiction, James Lee Burke is probably the best
when it comes to describing _some_ of what the area is like.

> (Of course, the constitution doesn't stop state politicians from
> corrupting the process. But who am I to argue - I'm not a US citizen
> and Mike Fester thinks the US system needs no "tweaking" or outside
> advice.)

In Louisiana the corruption of damn near every process went on until the
late 1980's ... or so the Federal Government says.  I think the last
Louisiana governor who was tried for corruption went into prison circa
1992, or so.  Whether or not they killed the wellspring it came from is
still a matter of debate and, every now and again, something happens to
make people think it is only sleeping.

BTW, I agree with Mike.  Go screw up your own country.  We can screw up
ours just fine without any outside interference.

-- 
CL