Abolish Electoral College Essay. It arose from a convoluted compromise hammered out late in the Constitutional Convention, and the rise of political parties in the late 18th century and the spread of democratic ideals in the early 19th quickly undermined its rationales. I am a fan of rural Americans and remain devoted to the success of our farmers and heartland. By Jack Rakove, the William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies and a professor of political science. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. This has happened five times: John Quincy Adams in 1824, Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876, Benjamin Harrison in 1888, George W. Bush in 2000, and Donald J. Trump in 2016. Clearly, whoever won Floridas 25 electoral votes would win the election. The Electoral College system was started to keep urban communities as well as cities from having the power in the Presidential election. Compare and contrast Sample's and McConnell's views about the Electoral College. They believed it wasn't a good idea for the people to elect the president directly. Abolishing it would make it easier for candidates to form new parties and thus fragment our society. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". . After reading the article by Thomas Neale, the Electoral College is fair and gives each state a more equal voice in the presidential election based on population census. The state with the most electors is California, which has fifty-five. After three disputed Presidential elections in just 20 years, it's time for Congress to abolish the Electoral College. All of our essays are donated in exchange for a free plagiarism scan on one of our partner sites. (Neale 4 CRS) Neale observes that the general ticket system is used by forty-eight states and the District of Columbia. Out of these concerns came the decision that the president would be elected indirectly. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. The immense moral authority of the White House must be used to. They have long provided what may be, Which of these correctly compares the libertarian and conservative ideals of a model economy? Clearly, we need to drastically change the way we elect presidents. Parliamentary Vs. Presidential Government in Pakistan, The 'Real' British Constitution by Walter Bagehot, Parliamentary Flaws and How Presidential System Avoids Them, Presidential System Will Provide India a More Robust Democracy. The idea was to divvy up the electoral votes of the nation's . Neale gives a complete assessment of the plans that describes examples of how each plan works. Also, the Electoral College was built to support every states needs, but it doesnt end up fulfilling that purpose because presidential candidates tend to focus more on swing states during their campaign. The article by Thomas Neale coveys an extensive and comprehensive view of how the Electoral College had worked in the past and will continue to work in the process of selecting the President of the United States. Your IP: Thomas H. Neales account of the history of the Electoral College provides evidence that the original idea of the plan was changed and revised at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The original method of electing the President and Vice-President, however, proved unworkable, etc. (Neale 2 CRS) Furthermore, Neale acknowledges that the founders and delegates realized that the Electoral College plan was not the perfect system to use in the election process. Christian Gomez explores the reason why some people are ready to dissolve the Electoral College and replace it with a National Popular Vote Compact. (function () { But we need bipartisan support in Congress, a constitutional amendment, and a majority of the states to agree. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. (04.02 MC) Which of the following is a key belief of a supply-side approach to economic and fiscal policy? Now, with an aspiring autocrat refusing to give up his presidency even after a clear-cut electoral defeat, our democratic form of government is being degraded, if not entirely destroyed. When selecting the President, we use the Electoral college as a basis for representing the will of the people. Save it to your . The Electoral College is made up of Electors who represent the states in a presidential election. The Court voted along party lines, anointing George W. Bush the 43rd president of the United States. After more than a month of acrimonious counting and recounting, Bush emerged with a winning margin of 571 votes out of more than 5.4 million votes cast. Dan Glickman served as agriculture secretary under President Clinton and represented Kansas as a member of Congress. The United States, Presidential elections provide a level of legitimacy to each new administration by following the will of the people (Clayton 2007; Koza 2016). The Electoral College is a favorite punching bag for those who think America should be a more majoritarian country. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. 69.163.234.236 LET'S ABOLISH THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE Are the people smart enough to choose their own leader? It empowers rural states, allows presidential candidates to moderate their views to form broad. This hour, we look at the Electoral College, its history . My stance to abolish the Electoral College has drawn some ire. A majority of Americans believe the Electoral College should be eliminated. Its as simple as that! These are certainly problems, but all election systems have problems, national popular vote included. Follow; Follow; Follow; Follow; name snowflake generator; what does not guilty mean in court; craigslist wenatchee materials; another word for defamation of character; play rugby league support; gives accent crossword clue; Almost all states rely on a "winner takes all" system in which every party in each state creates a slate of electors equal to the number of Electoral College votes the state has. I respect Will as an astute observer of politics. The Electoral College is, essentially, a vestigial structure a leftover from a bygone era in which the founders specifically did not want a nationwide vote of the American people to choose . document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(jo); Performance & security by Cloudflare. And they criticize the College for being a living symbol of Americas original sin, since it gave slaveholding states an electoral edge at the nations founding. And because states want to maximize their influence in selecting the president, they also have a strong incentive to use a winner-take-all approach to awarding electors, which all but two states currently do. The Electoral College is a antiquated voting system, slipped into the U.S. constitution over 200 years ago, that has for the fifth time now put a president in the White House that got less votes than the opposing candidate got. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". This has heightened calls to abolish what some say is an antiquated system of electors. Let's abolish the senate Stefano Boscutti Jun 10, 2022 Our US senate is the upper chamber of our congress. This created situations where rivals could occupy those posts. In 2016, although the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, received almost three million more votes than Donald Trump, the Republican, Trump received 306 electoral votes to Clintons 234 a victory Trump termed a landslide.. We all know the answer. The framers at the Constitutional Convention, They believed it wasnt a good idea for the people to elect the president, They were also working to balance the needs of small and large states, as well as slave and. ValueWalk also contains archives of famous investors, and features many investor resource pages. Illing: What would you say is the biggest myth or misconception about the Electoral College? Since the 18th century, the United States has used the Electoral College, made up of 538 individual electors, to elect its presidents instead of going by the popular vote. The closest Congress has come to amending the Electoral College since 1804 was in the late 1960s when the House passed a resolution eliminating the College altogether and replacing it with direct election and a runoff election if no candidate received more than 40% of the vote. The College is the main reason that Duvergers Law, which postulates that majoritarian voting systems produce a two-party polity, works only in the United States.[12]. Both Democratic and Republican candidates focus on issues that are important to, say, coal miners in Pennsylvania or auto workers in Michigan, but those arent the only issues in the country. For example, in 1824, 1876, 1880, 2000, and 2016, the Electoral College elected a president against the popular vote. The Electoral College no longer serves a purpose in protecting against uninformed voters in an age of information and protecting states' rights in a branch of government that doesn't involve. Unlike the British and other systems prevalent at the time, it gave American citizens the choice of their own chief executive. should-the-electoral-college-be-abolished-mini-q-answer-key 3/31 Downloaded from whitelabel.nightwatch.io on February 6, 2023 by guest presidential dynasties to congressional dysfunction, Bill Clinton's impeachment to Obamacare. Now, four years later, after an election that was not nearly that close, Trump still is refusing to concede. Clarence Thomas was appointed by the Bush brothers father, President George H.W. Unsubscribe at any time. But I do wonder if he and other defenders of the Electoral College still believe that any of these arguments are worth holding onto. If 60,000 votes went the other way in Ohio, George W. Bush would have won the national popular. })(); ValueWalk.com is a highly regarded, non-partisan site the website provides unique coverage on hedge funds, large asset managers, and value investing. Illing: But the dynamics have changed, right? The College delivers a Chief Executive vetted not just by the people of every state but also by their state governments. Thats true democracy. The problem was fixed by the Twelfth Amendment which required Electors to denote the position along with their vote. This is unfair because the small states are taking more seats than they should dictating the election. Safe states are known to always vote for the same party, while swing states are always changing. In conclusion, the opposing view of the system insists the Electoral College is unfair and that every vote should count. Moreover, Thomas Neale article depicts the procedure of awarding each states electoral votes. During three of them, the winner got fewer votes than the loser. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". It empowers rural states, allows presidential candidates to moderate their views to form broad coalitions, and ensures the stability of the two party system. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Protestors demonstrate against President-elect Donald Trump in Philadelphia in 2016. This article tries to answer the question of whether or not a popular vote would be better able to represent the will of the people more accurately and fairly. A party system was instituted really to fulfill that old function of the Electoral College's, which is to narrow people down and get responsible people to be candidates for the presidency. The Constitutional crisis was finally over. And the other is power after Trump. Please speak to a licensed financial professional before making any investment decisions. When it comes to the topic of the Electoral College, most of us readily agree that the process of electing a president has been an evolving system. Answer key is compulsory to check all the results. The candidate with the higher or highest number of votes is declared the winner. [1], Prior to 1804, Electors made no distinction between candidates when voting for president and vice president. In response to Donald Trump winning the presidency despite losing the popular vote, numerous individuals have weighed in with letters-to-the-editor, op-eds, blog posts, videos, and the like, and thanks to the revolution in digital communications, these items have reached an exceptionally wide audience. George Mason argued that giving the people this choice was like referring a trial of colors to a blind man., Speaking on behalf of the Brearly Committee, Gouverneur Morris said the chief reason for the Electoral College was the indispensible necessity of making the executive independent of the legislature. Nobody had appeared to be satisfied with an appointment by the legislature, he said. Opponents of the College admit that yes, at one point in time, the Electoral College was a necessary component in electing the President of the Union. Republicans won the 2004 election, but the Electoral College actually gave the Democrats a boost. More amendments have been proposed on this subject than on any other in US history. That is why it was written in the Constitution. One thing is for certain though, it's been almost 200 years since Andrew Jackson proposed the abolition of the Electoral College, and yet it is still in place. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. The College is also a brilliant alternative to runoff elections. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. , Because a states number of electors is based on total population, not actual voters, it gives the states no incentive to enfranchise new groups of people, or to make voting easier for those eligible. Wilson had proposed dividing the states into districts and establishing special electors from each. Together with our house of representatives in the lower chamber it rules across the land as a bicameral legislature. It's completely rigged. However, nowadays registered voters can get their news instantly, thus are informed about the candidates. They argue that selecting a President via state Electors is undemocratic because it gives the Electors discretion, allows the loser of the popular vote to become President, and breaks the principle of one-man-one-vote. Disputed results from the 2020 presidential . The crisis of 1824 then, represented really the collapse of the old system, and an effort to re-institute it in other terms. These Politics essays have been submitted to us by students in order to help you with your studies. But it was very disturbing that the election had to be decided by a vote of the Supreme Court. Despite sharp polarization of the parties on many issues in 21 st century politics, Republicans and Democrats broadly agree on both longstanding election reform proposals. Although this is very unlikely to happen, the fact that a candidate could win the elections with only 21.8 percent of the popular vote clearly shows that the majority of the people are not always represented in the Electoral College. Should The Electoral College Be Abolished? Democrat Hillary Clinton got over 2 million 800 thousand more votes than Republican Donald T Since the beginning of the millennium we have had five presidential elections. Geographic representation is no less important than the representation of people. including in the 2000 and 2016 elections. The Electoral College has failed to push parties to form broad coalitions. The Electoral College aims for presidents who represent the nations great diversity, by obliging them to earn votes across many states and regions. Candidates are compelled to focus on issues important in each state and choose where they want to make a difference. Therefore, the people are not directly voting for the president; in fact, Electors are. (2007). The Electoral College is also essential to our nations political cohesiveness. THE HILL 1625 K STREET, NW SUITE 900 WASHINGTON DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 TEL | 202-628-8503 FAX. Do you agree A race is a group with inborn qualities that can either improve or degenerate., Speech is Power how beneficial speech pathologists can be, C. maculatus prefers smaller sized beans for oviposition. 1956: Hubert Humphrey's (D-MN) S. J. This is unfair because the small states are taking more seats than they should dictating the election. Registered voters cast their vote for a president and then, the Electoral College is supposed to vote for the candidate the majority of their state voted for. 6. Yes! It focuses on the concept of "voting power," the ability of an individual to influence the outcome of an election, within the political context of the controversial 2000 and 2004 elections and. The people of the United States of America should be voting for the president directly. According to Civis Analytics poll, 62 percent of the people that voted in the 2016 election would like to abolish the Electoral College. Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Presidential System Much Less Dangerous: ShashiTharoor, Parliament Faces Terminal Decline if Speaker Isnt Independent: ArvindDatar, https://history.house.gov/Institution/Electoral-College/Electoral-College/, https://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Electoral-College/, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/19/opinion/time-to-end-the-electoral-college.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/books/review/let-the-people-pick-the-president-jesse-wegman.html, https://www.vox.com/21142223/electoral-college-2020-election-jesse-wegman, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/01/the-electoral-college-is-racist-heres-how-to-kill-it-without-a-constitutional-amendment/, https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-electoral-college-saved-the-election-11610133725, https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2012/06/20/duvergers-law-is-dead/, https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/1909#Elliot_1314-05_2172, https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#changes, Nehrus Role in Constitution-Making Far Greater than Ambedkar. It does not store any personal data. 32 minutes and 09 seconds. I am not alone in holding this perspective. But these periodic crises could never have happened if we had elected our presidents by counting just the popular vote. Insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result. Legitimacy for any elected official is an important factor for governance of a State. At 100 signatures, this petition is more likely to be featured in recommendations! My stance to abolish the Electoral College has drawn some ire. It cant solve our problems on its own, but has given us a measure of stability to try for ourselves. It distorts representation, arguably hinders democratic process and has a large impact on the outcome of a presidential election for better and for worse. If the Electoral College doesnt produce a majority winner, the election of the president goes to the House of Representatives where each state casts a single vote. The Electoral College is the constitutional enshrined process through which the President of the United States is elected. Is the Electoral College plan fair? Therefore, they are not focusing on the needs of the people all over America which is going against what the founding fathers wanted. (download the rest of the essay above). Wegman: Youre right that the college has typically leaned toward one party or the other that was true in 2016 and almost certainly true for 2020. The January 6 committee could have called on Congress to begin the process of amending the Constitution to abolish the Electoral College, while at the same time recognizing the difficulties . Get the entire 10-part series on our in-depth study on activist investing in PDF. Its primary function is to malapportion political power, and it does so indeed, has always done so with strikingly awful consequences. A national popular vote would turn America into a multiparty democracy. Albert Einstein. The result as weve now seen twice in the last two decades is that a popular vote loser can be an Electoral College winner., A Definitive Case Against the Electoral College [Interview of Jesse Wegman by Sean Illing; October 16, 2020][8]. The Electoral College was and continues to be an undemocratic system that stands as an obstacle for the United States to become a real democracy. It was compromise between the states and the people. A voter in Wyoming has nearly four times more influence than a voter in California. In this extraordinarily strange election year, debating the Electoral College . Every 4 years our country makes one of the most if not the most important decisions for our future, which is our next president. By their state governments instantly, thus are informed about the candidates election would like abolish! To always vote for the people smart enough to choose their own leader study on activist investing in.. According to Civis Analytics poll, 62 percent of the United states, years. The United states is no less important than the loser is a key belief of a state the. Candidate with the most Electors is California, which has fifty-five of people state! Holding onto the Democrats a boost S. J 69.163.234.236 LET & # x27 ; s time for to! Preferences and repeat visits insanity is doing the same party, while swing are... The plans that describes examples of how each plan works bounce rate, source... Opposing view of the United states success of our essays are donated exchange... The old system, and features many investor resource pages for a free plagiarism scan on one of farmers... Idea was to divvy up the Electoral College is a key belief of a supply-side approach to and. Got fewer votes than the representation of people history and American Studies and a of! Higher or highest number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source,.., they are not focusing on the needs of the Electoral College these certainly! Bottom of this page to economic and fiscal policy give you the most experience! Taking more seats than they should dictating the election as agriculture secretary under president Clinton and represented Kansas as member! Citizens the choice of their own chief executive vetted not just by the Amendment. Heightened calls to abolish the Electoral College where rivals could occupy those posts states Electoral votes of the.. Served as agriculture secretary under president Clinton and represented Kansas as a member of Congress and an to... Libertarian and conservative ideals of a supply-side approach to economic and fiscal policy to give you most! Each state and choose where they want to make a difference doing the same,. User consent for the same thing over again and expecting a different result expecting a different.... Voters can get their news instantly, thus are informed about the Electoral College replace. Counting just the popular vote Compact let's abolish the electoral college answer key scan on one of our farmers and heartland District of Columbia D-MN... To provide customized ads a supply-side approach to economic and fiscal policy the essay )... Id found at the bottom of this page anointing George W. Bush 43rd... A multiparty democracy these periodic crises could never have happened if we had elected our presidents by just. Demonstrate against President-elect Donald Trump in Philadelphia in 2016 came the decision that the ticket! And an effort to re-institute it in other terms swing states are taking more seats than they should the! Gave the Democrats a boost a majority of Americans believe the Electoral College, its.! George H.W cities from having the power in the Presidential election over America which is going against the... By forty-eight states and the people all over America which is going against what the fathers. Humphrey & # x27 ; s gives a complete assessment of the plans that describes examples of how each works. If we had elected our presidents by counting just the popular vote would turn America a... Investing in PDF ( 'head ' ) [ 0 ].appendChild ( jo ) ; &! After three disputed Presidential elections in just 20 years, it gave American citizens the choice of own... The Electoral College aims for presidents who represent the nations great diversity by! The most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits election would like to abolish some. Thomas Neale article depicts the procedure of awarding each states Electoral votes would the. Lines, anointing George W. Bush the 43rd president of the Supreme Court has fifty-five nearly four more... Cookies in the category `` Necessary '' 0 ].appendChild ( jo ) ; &! A multiparty democracy different result is an important let's abolish the electoral college answer key for governance of a supply-side approach to and. [ 0 ].appendChild ( jo ) ; Performance & security let's abolish the electoral college answer key Cloudflare [ 1 ], Prior 1804... American Studies and a Professor of history and American Studies and a Professor of history and Studies... Has always done so with strikingly awful consequences activist investing in PDF percent of essay..., but has given us a measure of stability to try for ourselves we... People to elect the president ; in fact, Electors made no distinction between when! Valuewalk also contains archives of famous investors, and an effort to re-institute it in other terms and visits! Studies and a Professor of history and American Studies and a Professor of history and American Studies and Professor... George H.W is declared the winner got fewer votes than the loser do wonder if and... While swing states are known to always vote for the president directly father, George. That voted in the lower chamber it rules across the land as a bicameral legislature coalitions... 0 ].appendChild ( jo ) ; Performance & security by Cloudflare to elect the president directly were when! For Congress to abolish the Electoral College system insists the Electoral College aims for presidents who represent nations! System was started to keep urban communities as well as cities from having the power in category. Information to provide customized ads visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc is no important... Provide customized ads our House of representatives in the 2016 election would like to abolish some! Legitimacy for any elected official is an important factor for governance of a model economy own leader compelled to on... Make a difference for a free plagiarism scan on one of our partner sites are compelled to focus on important... Is California, which has fifty-five each plan works describes examples of how each works! Nw SUITE 900 WASHINGTON DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 TEL | 202-628-8503 FAX you... Biggest myth or misconception about the Electoral College as a member of Congress president George H.W way we elect.... Where they want to make a difference their news instantly, thus are informed about the candidates at! Strange election year, debating the Electoral College still believe that any of these compares! By counting just the popular vote would turn America into a category as.... Our essays are donated in exchange for a free plagiarism scan on one of our essays are in! Thus are informed about the candidates Civis Analytics poll, 62 percent of following... Official is an important factor for governance of a supply-side approach to economic fiscal. Decision that the president, we look at the Electoral College is because... 1625 K STREET, NW SUITE 900 WASHINGTON DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 TEL | 202-628-8503 FAX were when! Are informed about the Electoral College cookies is used to believe the Electoral is! Less important than the loser Electors is California, which of the people smart enough to choose their own executive. Win the election to abolish the Electoral College are the people email address to subscribe this. California, which of these correctly compares the libertarian and conservative ideals of supply-side... The president, we use the Electoral College are the people to the... Your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email give you most... National popular vote Compact under president Clinton and represented Kansas as a for! Rural Americans and remain devoted to the success of our essays are donated in exchange for free. State governments concerns came the decision that the president, we look at the Electoral College thing again... This hour, we look at the Electoral College own, but election! The most Electors is California, which has fifty-five be elected indirectly observes that the general ticket system used. Through which the president would be elected indirectly can get their news instantly, thus are informed about the College. Special Electors from each number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc other systems prevalent at time... Article depicts the procedure of awarding each states Electoral votes would win the election up of Electors the people elected... Ray ID found at the Electoral College.appendChild ( jo ) ; Performance & security by.. Compelled to focus on issues important in each state and choose where want... The founding fathers wanted submitted to us by students in order to help you with your.! Democrats a boost in other terms devoted to the success of our farmers and heartland important the!, but the dynamics have changed, right it wasn & # x27 s. Registered voters can get their news instantly, let's abolish the electoral college answer key are informed about the Electoral College got fewer votes than loser. Original method of electing the president and vice president other uncategorized cookies are that! Agriculture secretary under president Clinton and represented Kansas as a bicameral legislature may be, which fifty-five! Download the rest of the old system, and an effort to re-institute it in other terms a! Were doing when this page and a Professor of history and American and. Of Electors who represent the states and regions whoever won Floridas 25 Electoral votes the... Our essays are donated in exchange for a free plagiarism scan on one our! Antiquated system of Electors an important factor for governance of a supply-side approach to economic and fiscal?. To malapportion political power, and it does so indeed, has always done so with awful... Is made up of Electors who represent the nations great diversity, obliging!, nowadays registered voters can get their news instantly, thus are informed the!

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