Democracy, Part 1: the 17th, 23rd, and DC Voting Rights Amendments

120 years of corruption and deadlocks finally allow reformers to achieve direct election of Senators, with the hope of a more responsive and functional Senate. (Points for trying, we suppose.) An absent-minded decision by the Federalists strips DC residents of the right to vote, and a legacy of racism leads to continued disenfranchisement. The 23rd Amendment restores the right to vote in Presidential elections, but further reforms are blocked.