The Pros And Cons Of Primaries And Caucuses

In the United States, the Electoral College determines the victor of a national election. Each state has its own number of electoral votes, which is determined by state population. This system is a “winner takes all” system. Which means the candidate with 50 percent or more of the votes in an individual state gets all of that states electoral votes. The 2016 presidential election will have 538 electoral votes, this means that the election will be decided who is the first candidate to 270 votes. Some people have seen this system as outdated and unjust. Many are looking at a way to change the system and others would like to do away with the system

The Electoral College was created in the year 1787. Before it was established, the men who drafted the Constitution also known as the Framers debated several formats for electing the president and vice president for the United States. One of the formats they were debating was to have the Congress choose the president however some felt that there may be corruption, inappropriate political issues and possible interference from foreign powers (Kimberling, W.C. 2008). The other format the Framers were debating were to have the State legislatures select president but it was also rejected because of fear that the president that is obligated to the State legislature have a possibility to wear down federal authority and underestimate the idea of the federation (Kimberling, W.C.

Our Founding Fathers had great concern over the topic of the government obtaining too much power over the people and with that in mind they constructed a system of indirect election where citizens would choose an elector. That system would distant the citizens from directly electing the president, avoiding any possibility to create tyranny. Their fears were about whether citizens could exercise the best judgement and their capability to fully understand and make good choices in voting. They did not want a group to go off in the wrong direction and take control over others. They thought that a chosen group of more educated and elite individuals elected by the people would be able to better interpret the situation and exercise better judgement. In a way, they were trying to safeguard democracy by instituting the Electoral College as the method to elect our presidents.

John Adams, one of the founding fathers, wrote that “There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution” (“Quote by John Adams”). The Two-Party system has been around since the start of America. The Two-Party system is a system that has two parties that the government, or America in this case, has that lead the government or America. At the current time, the two parties are the Republican and Democrat parties. It was created with the idea that everyone can be represented within either of the parties. Even though it does create some representation of the people, the two-party system does not create an equal policy in society because it does not allow people to get far if they are not within either of the two parties, does not allow the idea of having more than two parties, and because it doesn't represent everyone.

Research suggests that the Electoral College system should be amended because it poorly illustrates democracy, is outdated and

Campaigns in politics are important in determining outcomes and inform the voters who remain undecided. Also, campaigns matter because although the candidates or media officials may know what the outcome will be, the voters themselves do not (107). Aside from campaigns, conventions are also important, if not more important. Party nominating conventions affect the apathetic, uninterested electorates who think conventions are interesting and exciting, often known as the Olympic games of politics (121). This experience for voters can carry influence, and is a time of “intense political learning” (129). Therefore, aggregately, conventions make public opinion meaningful because the citizens who watch make an informed decision about a candidate, and have facts about why they will vote for that candidate. The chief reason why individual public opinion is meaningless during presidential elections is the “nonattitudes.” Nonattitudes are survey responses made up on the spot during an interview by a respondent who has no attitude on politics (113). Therefore, these individuals diminish the value of public opinion because we hate inconsistency and this creates an abundance of views on issues. However, during election night, exit polls support why aggregate opinion is also important. Exit polls are meaningful because one hundred percent of those leaving the polls have voted (102). Therefore, we can get real results from the electorates and this makes collective public opinion

The Electoral College is something that affects every citizen in this country. The Presidential election is also something that many people feel passionate about, regardless of where you are. In the Presidential Election, Minnesota has voted for the democratic candidate almost every time in the last 100 years. However, Waconia has not been the best representation of the state's views, since it is one of the most conservative cities in the nation, making it a very unique place to live, politically. Because I have lived in Waconia and Minnesota my whole life, I have seen both sides of the Electoral College and how it affects my surroundings. The Electoral College is valuable for this state in the sense that it gives Minnesota some importance come election, even if we do vote democratic nine times out of ten. For the city of Waconia, the Electoral College might make citizens here think it is not the best system since most republican voters might feel like their votes mean nothing in the end, because of the consistent trend of this state voting for the democratic candidate.

Closed primaries and caucuses are damaging our democracy and limiting our voices. Our closed contest system makes us disenfranchised from voting for a possible nominee. A nominee that is by the people, for the people and not for lobbyist. In America, we have a system of closed and open primaries/caucuses every four years in a presidential race. Twenty-eight states are closed primaries in some form (Ballotpedia). With over half of the states being closed contest, millions of proud voters are left out from voting or it becomes increasingly harder to vote. This leaves us with the question of what would have happened if those millions were able to vote today or in the pass. History might have been different. This closed contest system has been

Although voters do not have an obligation publicly state which party they align with, they still must only align with one party during the primary. Therefore, their ballots do not present every possible candidate, and thus, their scope of presidential candidates is limited. The goal of a primary should be to reflect how the state will likely vote during the general election. Blanket primaries accomplish this by allowing voters to select the best candidate from every choice available. This also shows how certain candidates fair in comparison with other parties’ candidates. Parties still have the ability to nominate their candidate with the highest number of votes, but the blanket primary gives more power to the voters than to political parties. Political candidates must market themselves to voters as an aggregate in the state, and cannot rely on party affiliation to be a driving force come primary season. Therefore, while open and blanket primaries are extremely similar, it is the fact that blanket primaries allow more freedom for voters that makes them the favorable

The Electoral College what can I say to be honest, I know nothing about the Electoral College, but I will do my best to explain it to people who might know and to help them know so when they 're seventeen they know like I should. So the Google definition of the Electoral College is a body of people representing the states of the US, who cast votes in the election of the President and Vice President. I would have not given that explanation, it would have told you it is a College. So helping you and myself, I will first explain how it works, then how Electors are selected, and the qualifications to be one and their restriction on who the Electors can vote for. Then the Election 1800 and the 12th Amendment. Then I will explain times where

In the article of David Sedaris “Undecided”, he is very critical about the unsure voters in the American elections. For Sedaris, these undecided voters are usually the ones who have a decisive vote in an election without knowing who they voted for. His mother didn´t have any political knowledge and rely on David to vote for a candidate for her. Sedaris compares the election with choosing what to eat. If you were offered chicken or a platter of broken glass in it, which one would you choose? For him is not confusing, candidates are very different from each other, so it is ridiculous to be undecided. The percentage of people in the United States that are undecided or do not vote is big, but even that, I believe we have a very active voting population.

This paper will talk about the presidential primaries in the United States of America. It will explain what a primary election is, and where it comes from historically, also how it fits into today’s society. Another topic it will cover is how the primary process has played out so far this year, how some of the contenders are currently faring in the race for presidency. It will also cover the strong suits of the primaries and some of the major flaws of the primaries. The last topic this paper will cover is whether or not the people of the United States should understand and care about the presidential Primaries.

As politics and government becomes more complex and involved, more effort is required to keep up with and understand it. As a result, many Americans have lost touch with current events and happenings. Therefore, when election time rolls around, many people lack enough information to develop an educated opinion and support a candidate with their vote, so they just do not vote at all. This lack of information is also related to the belief that one vote will not matter. People believe that their vote will not count, and are therefore following the news less and becoming out of touch with public affairs and politics (Is the System Broken?”). This lack of information is also more strongly apparent among the younger voting population. When interviewed

This could also be seen as a disadvantage to the primary election, as it prevents the parties from expressing their wishes towards who the candidate should be, and thus an unworthy candidate may be chosen. Primaries could lead to someone with little experience of governance, or someone who is not representing the party ideal being put forward as candidate and the state parties could have no influence over this.

Voting has not always been as easy as it is today. It is interesting to examine how far America has progressed in its process of allowing different types of people to be able to vote. Voting was once aimed at a particular group of people, which were white males that owned their own property. Today, most people over the age of eighteen can vote, except for the mentally incompetent or people who have been convicted of major felonies in some states. The decline of voter participation has always been a debate in the public arena. According to McDonald and Popkin, it is “the most important, most familiar, most analyzed, and most conjectured trend in recent American political history (2001, 963)” The question is, how important is voter