The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College
The US’s Electoral College has always been a controversial topic. When it was written into the Constitution, it was meant as a compromise between the small and large states, and between Congress and the states (M. West). Since then, the Electoral College system has been how the United States elected its presidents. However, it continues to face criticism and many want the system to change, favoring systems such as a national popular vote instead (National Conference of State Legislatures). Despite how the US’s Electoral College effectively balances power between the states and the federal government, it is still a deeply flawed voting system due to it being based on unrealistic expectations and outdated ideals that should be changed to reflect …show more content…
In the first place, the argument against the national popular vote does not apply today. The idea of the popular vote was rejected because the general public was seen as uneducated and was not trusted to make an informed decision (M. West). However, as opposed to when the Constitution was made, the vast majority of the public today is much more educated because of the widespread availability of public education and the internet. Additionally, the concept of electors is not used to its original purpose. In the elections, “more than 99 percent of electors” voted according to their state’s popular vote, and none affected the final result (“About the Electors”). But, the electors were originally implemented because they were meant to vote independently as opposed to having the general population or Congress decide the presidency, rather than in today where the electoral system is more used as a distribution of votes between states (M. West). Besides, with the growing popularity of the national popular vote, the electoral college system may even eventually become irrelevant if enough states favor it. For instance, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is an agreement between states in which each state agrees to cast its electoral votes toward the candidate winning the national popular vote (Congressional Research Services). If states totaling 270 votes join the compact, it will deem the Electoral College ineffective in favor of the national popular vote, and “[a]s of December 2022, 15 states and Washington, D.C., had adopted legislation to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact”, representing 195 Electoral College votes
The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College
1093 Words | 5 PagesThe textbook definition of the Electoral College is “a unique American institution, created by the constitution, providing for the selection of the president by electors chosen by the states parties. Although the Electoral College vote usually reflects a popular majority, less populated states are overrepresented and the winner-take-all rule concentrates campaigns on close states” (Edwards and Wattenberg 643). In the definition itself it notes disproportionate representation which is one of the many flaws within this system. The National Popular Vote Plan is an alternative system that would still use electors to cast their votes but instead it would give each state’s votes to whichever candidate wins the national popular vote. This plan has
Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College
397 Words | 2 PagesThe United States has benefited from the Electoral College for hundreds of years. This essay will discuss the presidential voting process and the merits of the Electoral College. The Electoral College is a more effective method of choosing the president than the general election. This is due to the fact that it greatly improves efficiency and ensures the integrity of the election. There would be a huge number of candidates to pick from if the Electoral College did not exist and we had a public vote instead.
What Are The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College Voting System
1309 Words | 6 PagesThe Electoral College and the Pros and Cons of Electoral Votes and Popular Votes When planning on the election process of the USA during the Constitutional Convention, the politicians of the time wanted to make it so that citizens chose their president indirectly. This was the initial birth of the Electoral College, which is composed of state electors. These state electors make their vote based on their state’s popular vote. The parties
The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College
1821 Words | 8 PagesThe electoral college is, “a body of people representing the states of the US, formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president” (Kimberling). Come election time, the states that make up the United States are worth a certain number of votes. That number depends on the population of the state. For example, California has 55 electoral votes, the most, because it is the most populous, and the District of Columbia is one of the smallest and has 3 electoral votes. In
Electoral College Pros And Cons
1745 Words | 7 PagesThough unlikely to be at the forefront of any 2016 presidential platforms, the Electoral College is a widely contested issue among partisans, many of who believe that a better method exists for selecting the President of the United States. This anti-Electoral College sentiment is also present among Americans nationwide, Republicans and Democrats alike. According to a 2013 Gallup poll, 61% of Republicans and 66% of Democrats would vote to do away with the Electoral College. In today’s contentious political atmosphere, in which Republicans and Democrats are constantly at odds with one another, any level of agreement between the parties clearly indicates that a change needs to be made. Changes are already starting to occur at the state level,
The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College
1269 Words | 6 PagesThe electoral college which was established at the same time that the rest of the three branches were set up, has been heralded as one of, if not the most controversial part of the modern government. Created in the constitution in Article Two, the Electoral College is a process in which the United States chooses its Chief Executive, the president. The Electoral College is made up of 538 members who are chosen, most often, by state party conventions (there is no exact way that is required for the choosing of states’ electors). Once the popular vote is collected the electors pledge themselves to a candidate, normally the person who won the popular vote but not always. This means that sometimes there will be a disparity between who wins the popular
The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College
753 Words | 4 PagesAccording to the National Archives, the Electoral College is, “...a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens.'' The Electoral College was created in the late 1700’s, and was used as a buffer between the voting population and the official selection of the president. For the founding fathers, this solved a wide array of problems: the possible risk of leaving the power of choosing who the leader of the country to ill -informed voters, unequal representation and distribution of votes between the North and South of the U.S., and supported the idea of separation between powers in the government. In this country, it has been believed that the government has been built off of popular sovereignty, the theory that the government is created by and is subject to the will of its citizens. But how is this concept valid when the people of the United States don’t directly vote and decide who will govern them?
The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College
901 Words | 4 PagesWhile there are valid arguments against the Electoral College, it remains a vital component of the American political system. One significant criticism of the Electoral College is that it increases the likelihood of a political candidate securing the presidency without receiving a large majority of the vote. Given this, people must remember why the founding fathers proposed the Electoral College. It was a way to ensure that all states, not just the ones with the most people, have a say in the election (Kirch). Without the Electoral College, candidates will be slightly more motivated to run for office in less populated states because such states' challenges and needs will likely go unmet.
The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College
903 Words | 4 PagesThe Electoral College is the system that determines who our next president and vice president will be. The Electoral College is currently made up of 538 electors, with a majority of 270 votes to win the election. Each state gets electors based on how many people in the House of Representatives plus two for each state’s senators. ("U. S. Electoral College, Official - What Is the Electoral College?" National Archives and Records Administration.
Pros And Cons Of The United States Electoral College
1999 Words | 8 PagesThe United States Electoral College is a system that has been in place since the country's founding, and it has been the subject of much debate and controversy over the years. Some argue that the Electoral College is outdated and should be replaced with a popular vote system, while others believe that it serves an important purpose in the American political system. The electoral college has lead to fair and democratic elections for over 200 years, removing it would ruin fair elections, lead to less voter participation and could even lead to more corrupt leaders. The Electoral College provides power to small states and swing states.
The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College
2065 Words | 9 PagesThe Electoral College: An Ineffective Method of Selecting a President The Electoral College has been a topic of debate in the United States for quite some time, forming a fissure between citizens, especially being fomented given recent and imminent elections (list 6, 11, 15). There have been elections where the winner of the Electoral College did not win the popular vote: 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and most recently 2016 (pattern 10). While rare, this can be significant, with the winning candidate losing popular vote margins by as high as 3,000,000 votes, a situation that is often recondite and redoubtable to the average American (list 8, 21). These situations raise concerns (pattern 20).
Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College
3378 Words | 14 PagesThe popular vote would have several disadvantages, as seen by studying how previous elections would have played out through the popular vote system. For example, looking at the Nixon vs. Kennedy presidential election of 1960, one can quickly determine that John F. Kennedy had defeated Richard Nixon through the Electoral College. However, when trying to count the popular vote, an issue appears due to an error in Alabama. Due to some issues, it was impossible to objectively determine who had won the majority of votes in Alabama. Consequently, there was a discrepancy between who had won the national popular vote, thus having no way to determine who won the presidential election through the popular vote (Craig).
Electoral College Problem
109 Words | 1 PagesElectoral College is the United State’s democratic voting system of determining the next president. However, it poses a problem on how the United States chooses the next president. The Electoral College is a problem because electoral votes are the real determiners of the presidential election, states with more people have more electoral votes, and popular votes do not affect anything. Many politicians, people, etc. have gave their opinions on how to change the electoral college but the best way is to have popular carry significance and to allow each electoral voters to vote individually instead of losing their vote to majority. This way, choosing the president can be improved
Summary Of How Democratic Is The American Constitution By Robert Dahl
1393 Words | 6 PagesAccording to Article II, Section I of the Constitution, the number of electors in each state will be “equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the state may be entitled in the congress.” Every state has 2 senators (an equal number), which means that states with lower population size are represented the same as states with higher population numbers. Robert Dahl explains this unequal representation as “a situation in which your vote for your representative is counted as one while the vote of a friend in a neighboring town is counted as seventeen” (Dahl 2003). Unequal representation is a “violation” of democracy, completely discounting political equality among all citizens. The author argues that the Electoral College contains additional inherent problems, for example, the fact that the winner of popular votes may not be chosen for President unless they win the electoral votes.
Dbq Essay On The Electoral College
904 Words | 4 PagesSeveral years after the United States came to be, the Constitutional Convention met to determine how the new nation should govern itself. The delegates saw that it was crucial to have a president and vice president, but the delegates did not want these offices to reflect how the colonies were treated under the British rule. The delegates believed that the president’s power should be limited, and that he should be chosen through the system known as the Electoral College. The Electoral College is a body of people who represent the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the electing of the president and vice president. Many citizens feel that the Electoral College goes against our nation’s principle of representative democracy, while others
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