"It appears those words mean nothing: without some to ENFORCE them."
Ordinary, constitutionally low-information citizen voters abuse their 17th Amendment powers by electing federal senators who promise voters unconstitutional federal spending programs to get themselves elected. So voters can also point the finger of blame for unconstitutionally big federal government to themselves imo.
Though it's source is obscure; it's content is 100% on target:
Two centuries ago, a somewhat obscure Scotsman named Tytler made this profound observation: “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy.”Daily Oklahoman, December 9, 1951