Considered by some as a relic in the Constitution, the Electoral College is one of the most controversial aspects of presidential elections in the United States. Nevertheless, the Electoral College plays a fundamental role in presidential elections and is the deciding factor in choosing whom the next president will be. The most intriguing parts of the Electoral College are what exactly it is, the reason the Founders created it, and the modern day controversies surrounding it. The Electoral College is body in government who, put simply, chooses the president of the United States. A total of 538 members make up the Electoral College, and each state has as many electors as they have members in Congress. This means that states have as many electors …show more content…
While there is still a degree of dispute over the claim, many historians agree that the idea of the Electoral College came about late in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 through the Committee of Eleven on Postponed Matters. The members and of the Committee, along with the majority of the Founding Fathers, supported the idea of an Electoral College because they wanted residents in states with smaller populations to have an effect on the presidential election. Furthermore, the Founding Fathers supported the Electoral College because it helped to balance the vote of the general American people with the vote of the elite and knowledgeable electors. Moreover, the Electoral College provides insulation for the presidential election against political manipulation. In Federalist No. 68, Alexander Hamilton defended the idea of an Electoral College because he felt that it helped to protect the state’s power in presidential elections. In the end, the Founding Fathers and Framers of the Constitution made the Electoral College a formal part of presidential elections in Article II, Section I of the Constitution (which describes the Electoral College). However, despite its strong support in the early years of the United States, support for the Electoral College has faltered in recent