Persuasive Essay On The Electoral College

In light of the recent United States 2016 presidential election, both politicians and other public figures have urgently pressed for electoral reform to address the system which allowed an unlikely candidate to become the forty-fifth President of the United States. The inauguration of Donald J. Trump into presidential office has revived the electoral reform campaigns that ensued after the presidential election of 2000, when Republican candidate George W. Bush prevailed over Democrat candidate Al Gore. The election itself holds controversy due to the Florida vote recount fiasco and the Supreme Court ruling that followed, titled Bush v. Gore (2000). However, the controversy now differs; instead of pointing fingers at court rulings and discussing

However, Schlesinger’s proposal mentioned earlier brings up an interesting point; why was the Electoral College included in the Constitution? It is important to note that the framers defended the Electoral College as necessary for the production of “extraordinary persons” as Presidents because they would be selected by “men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station” of the Presidency (Duquette et al., 2017). Additionally, the Electoral College prevents any national vote recounts from occurring, limiting them to specific jurisdictions where the disputes are held, not unlike the Florida election recount of 2000. In layman’s terms, the Electoral College was never intended to serve as an instrument for direct democracy, but rather protect against it for fear of the passions and prejudice of the majority. In the eyes of the framers, the function of government is to protect unalienable rights and promote justice — such things were not to be decided by majority rule. Thus, they designed a representative (or republican) democracy that enforces checks on majority rule, believing that this system is more efficient in deciding what justice requires. Essentially, they did not believe like we do today that the majority had any inherent right to rule or impose its will on the