Why did the populist party in america want the direct election of senators?
The Populists put together a platform of reforms they felt would benefit the farmer and working man. Among reforms to government was the proposal to have US senators elected directly by the people rather than by the state legislatures. State legislatures, often embroiled in partisan strife, had become ineffective in providing long-serving senators or even deciding on a senator. This reform was not as practical for the goals of the Populist Party as others were, but it represented a belief in direct representational democracy. It was the Progressives, successors to the Populists, who pushed through the 17th Amendment to the Constitution that brought about this reform.
