ipl-logo

Pros And Cons Of Electoral Reform In The United States

3583 Words15 Pages

Owen Barnes Professor Raynaldo Composition and Rhetoric 1302 22 April 2024 An Electoral Reform in the United States: The Benefits of Ranked Choice Voting and Multi-Member Districts The Voting System of the United States should be revamped because the currently used electoral systems are flawed and biased. Although the Simple Majority Voting System and Single-Member districts - which are the current electoral systems being used in the United States - do harbor strengths that in some ways make them better than the Ranked Choice Voting System, these small advantages pale in comparison to the many drawbacks. Even though it is true that there does not exist a single electoral system or combination of electoral systems that are perfect in every, or even in a single, way. Nevertheless, such small …show more content…

This ensures that the The winner of an election has support from the largest majority of the population as possible.Because they work so well together, Ranked Choice voting is commonly used inside the elections of Multi-Member districts - Multi-Member districts are similar to Single-Member districts except there is multiple people elected in office instead of just one. Electoral reforms have taken place in modern day countries similar to the United States, thus an electoral reform in the United States should not be dismissed without thought. Initiating electoral reform in a country with a well established political and electoral system may seem to be a daunting undertaking; but in reality, several successful electoral reforms have already happened in other modern day countries. More specifically, Australia: Within the last century, the country of Australia has undergone electoral reform and now uses “[Ranked Choice Voting] to elect its most powerful [positions]” resulting in an overall positive impact on the country(“Lessons from Australia’s Ranked Choice Voting

Show More
Related
1393 Words | 6 Pages

He recommends switching our current system to a direct election from the people, thus the popular vote wins. The issue of electoral reform is a continuous debate, and the author strongly encourages public discussion on the

Read More
351 Words | 2 Pages

The United States government is one of the most admired and complex in the world, On the contrary one of the fundamental components that has an extensive impression on the American People and the Election is the Electoral College. Our founding fathers created The Electoral College over two hundred years ago, and it is still in effect today. They feared that having just the Popular Vote would give too much power to one person. In this paper, we will be discussing what the Electoral College is, the benefits and disadvantages of the Electoral College as well as if the Electoral College should be abolished or reconstructed.

Read More
685 Words | 3 Pages

Overlooking loopholes of the faithless electors, it is now known that the U.S. Electoral College system has seemed to have failed the United States numerous times, within the

Read More
2242 Words | 9 Pages

San Diego State University From Compromise to Controversy: The Evolution and Challenges of the United States Electoral College. Maria Sakhnova POL S436: The American Presidency. Prof. Kimberley Fletcher. 21 March.

Read More
1278 Words | 6 Pages

Although this seems a reasonable approach this causes more of an issue of fragmentation than congressional district ting. Lastly, there is the Electoral College with super electors. This idea was introduced by Arthur Schlesinger Jr. in 2000. he proposed that “... candidates would continue to compete for electors on a state-by-state, winner-take-all basis, but the winner of the national popular vote would be awarded a set of bonus

Read More
660 Words | 3 Pages

Should the Electoral College Be Replaced by the Direct Election of the President? A Debate The presidency and election of the presidency is often viewed as the main focus of the American political system. In recent years the election process and Electoral College have come under scrutiny and reconsideration due to how important the election is. In this paper we will examine the two different arguments about whether or not the Electoral College is a democratic and useful system.

Read More
730 Words | 3 Pages

When the Democratic System in America was founded in 1787, it was built on the sturdy ideals of equality and fairness. The founding fathers of the constitutional convention developed the Electoral college system with the best interests of the American people in mind, as the average person was highly under-educated and they did not trust them to make a decision as important as the But over time as society and even our democracy has changed, it has become ridden with flaws and corruption especially in the electoral college and voting system. The effects of the Electoral College’s inefficiencies oppose the very ideas our democracy was built off of. Because of the over-representation of small states, the broken promises of political equality, and

Read More
2144 Words | 9 Pages

March 21, 2016 Jessica Sanford ! 1 Maintaining American Democracy Not Through Reform (PG Independent Study) Introduction In Reforming the Republic - Democratic Institutions for the New America Todd Donovan and Shaun Bowler discuss the necessity to reform the American electoral process and ways in which it could be done. Although the article discusses in depth how and why civil participation and trust in the government are severely lacking, it does not pose a convincing argument for codifying a new electoral process through changes to the Constitution, nor does it present specific paths to take for change. Their overarching argument is this: the American electoral system must be reformed through amending the Constitution in order to increase

Read More
665 Words | 3 Pages

The recent presidential election has had a controversy on the abolishment of the Electoral College. With many citizens not understanding whether or not their vote is actually being counted during the election, more debates have risen on if popular vote should be the deciding factor of presidential determinations instead. Popular vote is an actual count of individual votes from all states in America while the Electoral College is a measure of the House of Representatives and Senators choosing directly who the president should be (Kimberling, 1992). The reasoning behind why the Electoral College was the determining factor for president was declared by the founding fathers decades ago to ensure equality (Pavia, 2011). Recently, critics have expressed that this system is not as equal as predetermined.

Read More
1006 Words | 5 Pages

On the other hand there are those who wish to abolish the Electoral College and label this action as “past its due date”. These people argue that it is no longer effective in a nation where media presents us with the information needed to make informed decisions. These critics argue that it presents unequal and unfair representation of the people and individual states by not always being representative of the popular vote and place the final vote in the hands of only a select amount of elected officials. The most significant aspect to be considered by the American people is whether or not the Electoral College is still efficient in the mass media influenced society and ever changing world we live in today in order to decide whether the system our forefathers created for us needs to update, is outdated, or a fair representation of the American

Read More
527 Words | 3 Pages

The year was 1974 and President Richard Nixon found himself in the middle of what is best known as the water gate scandal. What exactly happened and how big of a role Nixon played is still up for debate to this day. One thing that had come to light was that accusations began that President Nixon used campaign money to take part in the scandal. Shortly after his resignation from office the Federal Elections Campaign Act was amended by congress so that greater limits were set on campaign spending. What the amendment put into place where two major limits, one being a limit on the amount of money an individual can give for campaigns and the other was a limit on campaign spending.

Read More
1999 Words | 8 Pages

The 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.

Read More
2447 Words | 10 Pages

The Pros and Cons of Canadian Electoral Reform: A Critical Analysis The topic of Canadian electoral reform is a pivotal and controversial issue in Canadian political discourse, with advocates contending that it will result in enhanced representation and stimulated voter engagement. The heart of the discourse lies within the topic of removing the first-past-the-post system in favour of a proportionately representative system. A change would result in enhanced democratic representation as well as an increase in voter engagement. While those in support of the first-past-the-post system convey that this system maintains stability and accountability within the democratic environment, critics voice concerns over hindered inclusivity, especially

Read More
901 Words | 4 Pages

The system allows states to select a specific number of electors based merely on population. This announces political states with reduced populations a more valuable opportunity to secure the contested election than they would under a popular vote (Kirch). This helps ensure that all states' interests are represented, rather than just those with the most massive populations. Also, the fact that each state obtains its electors means that the election is controlled by several authorities, with each state responsible for its election. This helps prevent any condition or region from possessing all the power in an election.

Read More
693 Words | 3 Pages

Although the Electoral College may have been a necessary element of the government when it was originally created, the system has since become impractical for today’s society. The will of the people is now far better expressed through the resulting popular vote than the electorate of the Electoral College. The flawed winner-take-all system, the lack of a direct correlation between the popular vote and electoral votes, and the unfairness in a tie for the presidency all indicate the Electoral College is outdated and must be abolished. In the current electoral system, the slightest majority in a particular state means all of the votes in that state are given to the candidate that wins the majority.

Read More

More about Pros And Cons Of Electoral Reform In The United States

Open Document