According to critics, the Electoral College is a faulty system that should be abolished and replaced by direct election. Supporters of the Electoral College system make convincing arguments that it is the best system to decide the Presidential election in a complex society such as the United States. Many scholars place the Electoral College into a historical context by discussing its evolution and sustenance throughout the history of the United States. This paper will discuss the main arguments made by supporters of the Electoral College System. I will first provide a description of the Electoral College and offer justifications as to why it was conceived by the Founding Fathers. Next, I will present major arguments from the critics of …show more content…
However, a compromise was made by the delegates to have electors chosen by the various state legislatures elect the President. This is the decision that made The Constitution. Critics of the Electoral College often make three main arguments. The first argument states that the Electoral College does not accurately represent the will of the people. The Electoral College’s failure to capture the will of the people derives from the winner take all system where the Presidential candidates compete to win the most popular votes and whoever wins in that state, wins all the electoral votes of that state. With this, it becomes difficult if not impossible for third party or independent parties to make a showing in the Electoral College. Subsequently, the argument states that the Electoral College supports a two party system and discourages third party and independent candidates, which in turn restricts the choices available to the electorate. The second argument is the possible role of the Electoral College in depressing the voter turnout. “Since each State is entitled to the same number of electoral votes regardless of its voter turnout, there is no incentive in the States to encourage voter participation” and, finally the third argument is based on the alleged unfairness in the process by which the votes are distributed among the
The Electoral College is an excuse of the electoral process, proving itself to be undemocratic, false in representation, and harmful to third-parties. Therefore, the Electoral College should be abolished, and the process should rely on the popular vote to have the leading judgement in the election procedure for a new president. The Electoral College has proven that a candidate may not need to win the popular vote of the people of the nation in order to win the presidential election. But first, beforehand, let me introduce the system in which the Electoral Process is based upon. The Electoral Process is the government’s created system of indirect voting in order to elect the nation’s president.
According to the first draft of the Constitution, electors voted for two presidents, at least one of which was from a different state than the elector was representing. Whichever candidate received the most votes would become president and the runner-up would be vice-president. This method worked for several years until, in 1800, the unforeseen effect of political parties resulted in a tie for the presidency between Aaron Burr and Thomas Jefferson, both of the same party. The resulting dispute over who the president would be led to the 12th Amendment to the Constitution.
The continuation of the Electoral College is constantly debated. Some want to discontinue the system while others want keep it. There are several arguments used by those who want to continue the system. One argument by Electoral College Advocates is the Electoral College balances the power of the large and small states in elections. These advocates state that doing away with the Electoral College would give the states with larger populations too much power in the outcome of elections. The advocates feel that presidential candidates will spend their resources on the states with the largest amount of voters. These advocates also believe that the Electoral College protects minorities’ interests. Some believe that without the Electoral College candidates would spend their time and resources on the majority of nation because that is where most of the votes will come from. Some advocates also argue that the Electoral College helps maintain the federal character of the United States. They argue that the system gives both the people and the states an important role in the electing of a president.
The distinguished contributors to this instructive volume - including Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Michael Barone, and Walter Berns- show why it would be foolish to abolish the Electoral College by explaining not only its historical and cultural significance, but also its present role in instilling a measure of stability and sanity to our electoral and party systems. This is the definitive volume for all those interested in the logic, and continuing importance of this unique American political institution.
In the “Point: Abolishing the Electoral College,” Benjamin Bolinger, a licensed lawyer who can practice law in Colorado and Pennsylvania, argues that the Electoral College needs to be abolished for the American democracy. Bolinger examines that some states with a little population have large number of electoral college compare to those states with larger populations. He believes that the Electoral College damages the value of democratic government by leaving
The voting process in America appears straightforward, but it is a very complex, complicated system. The Electoral College is America’s current voting system. The Electoral College still serves its intended purpose, but with increasing political activity among Americans it has caused a need to reform this process. Research suggests that the Electoral College system should be amended because it poorly illustrates democracy, is outdated and the majority of Americans are in favor of abolishing the system.
Write an essay that explains how the Electoral College works. How does the Electoral College shape the strategy of candidates? Why is it harder to win presidential elections post 1968?
Rhetorical Analysis: The primary audience for this paper includes every citizen aged eighteen and above eligible to vote in the United States. The proposed topic mostly concerns these individuals due to the fact, they are affected by presidential voting institutions. Throughout this paper, I will be arguing in favor of the Electoral College, with an end goal of persuading my audience of the benefits of the system.
Every time there is an election in the United States, the debate of Electoral College always heats up, and suddenly everybody seems to know about or at least they are interested in learning about it. The Electoral College is firmly established under the United States Constitution to elect the president and the vice president of the United States indirectly. A slate of “electors” are chosen from each state, and they are the ones responsible for voting for president in the general elections depending on which party the candidate is vying with. From this statement, what it means is that one does not choose his or her preferred leader directly and this has made many suggestions that the Electoral College is not a true representation of democracy. This paper will look at the strongest arguments for and against the Electoral College, analyze whether the current Electoral College should be re-engineered or scrapped in favor of direct vote and finally determine if the Electoral College is consistent or contrary to democratic principle.
In order to fully understand the underlying problems of the Electoral College we have to look back at the time that the idea of the Electoral College itself was proposed and see how the culture of the time and the ideologies of the people involved helped shaped the final outcome. Life today is much different than it was two hundred odd something years ago, and it’s fair to say that the political ideals and social norms around our society have changed drastically.
According to recent surveys, the role of the Electoral College is enveloped in mystery as far as the ordinary American voter is concerned. There have been issues pertaining to the legitimacy of the Electoral College and its effect on the democratic voting process. This work seeks to elicit the challenges brought about by the college as well as their implications on the larger political community. To this effect, this work has analyzed political texts to understand the effects of the college on American politics. In addition, this work has given evidence suggesting that the college causes inadequate distribution of power among states, it also allows for minimal oversight as well as undue influence over electors. Furthermore, it creates room
The debate on the efficacy and fairness of the Electoral College is one that has lasted since the birth of the United States. At its core, it is a compromise between states small and large to spread presidential voting power more evenly between them. It is a point of major contention since it removes some power from states with higher population and gives it to the those with lower populations. This contention has only been exacerbated by recent presidential races that have been won via Electoral College votes, but lost based on the popular vote. While the Electoral College does not represent the people directly, it is the superior system for electing a president that cares about the entire country rather than just large cities.
The Electoral College has been around since the Constitution was first written and has been controversial ever since it was started. The process of electing a president includes the Electoral College, which has a rich and interesting history; there are many arguments for and against the College, but the way the Electoral College works now is not representative of the country’s opinion as a whole.
Despite the Electoral College system being founded by the founding fathers in America and being there as long as the Constitution exists, many people still do not have sufficient knowledge on how it works. The Electoral College does not provide honest presidential elections rather it has the potential to undo the will of people at any point from the selection of electors to the vote tallying in Congress (Shaw, 3). Electoral College in the United States has played a major role in depressing the voter's turnout. Every State is given an equal number of electoral votes despite the population and in turn, the system has put in place no measure to encourage the voters to take part in the elections. Besides, the system distorts
Two hundred and twenty-nine years ago, our founding fathers had debated on which route to take when electing our President. In 1787, the “Committee of Eleven” had come to a compromise, and created the Electoral College, which is a group of individuals elected by the people to cast votes for the presidency. The Electoral College is described as “a compromise between election of the president by Congress and election by popular vote” (Price). The reason behind the Electoral College was to preserve “the sense of the people,” while ensuring that our president is chosen “by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station, and acting under