Dbq Essay On The Electoral College

I think we should keep the Electoral College. Electoral College is defined in our textbook as; “An unofficial term that refers to the electors who cast the states’ electoral votes” (Patterson, T.E., 2013). Electoral voting is tied in with the states popular voting. Choosing electoral college adds to the cohesiveness of the nation by obliging an appropriation of popular support to be elected President, improves the status of minority interests, contributes to the political dependability of the country by promising a two-party system, and keeps up an elected arrangement of government and representation (Kimberling, W.C., 2008). I think that the Electoral College system is a big part of the cohesiveness of our country and it requires the distribution

This paper explores and discusses how the president of the United States is elected, but mainly analyzes the Electoral College and demonstrates possible positive and negative aspects of the voting system here in our country. The Electoral College is a difficult and intricate voting system that is hard to fully analyze in a pro-and-con fashion. Unless it is understood in its entirety and the past conflicts that brought about its existence to provide a viable method for electing the leader of the fledgling nation. The Electoral College was created during the original time of the 13 new states that composed the young United States of America. The nation was barely getting on its feet and presented various concepts and propositions for presidential elections prior to reaching the system we know today (Webster, 2016).

In order to “secure the public good, and private rights, against the danger of [majority] faction, and at the same time to preserve the spirit and form of popular government,” (#10: 45) they proposed the use of an electoral college, which would “refine and enlarge public views” (#10: 46). In order to allow the people to have an active voice in the government while protecting them from the negative aspects of factions, the authors of “The Federalist” proposed the use of an electoral college. Furthermore, Hamilton and Madison agreed that the electoral college should consist of delegates, rather than trustees. Hamilton proposed that the members of the electoral college would take the interests of different groups into account, proving to be “an impartial arbiter between them, ready to promote either, so far as it shall appear to him conducive to the general interests of his community” (#35: 171).

While 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 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.

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.

If America has been on the basis of “we the people” from when the preamble was written in the Constitution, how has it become just to use a political system that denies citizens their right to a vote that actually matters? This system is the electoral college. It is a method of indirect popular election of the President of the United States. That word “indirect” is a prime notion of why the electoral college has been the subject of persistent criticism and frequent proposals for reform. It has been seen in great times when the electoral college made an unjust decision in electing the president when their decision diverged from the nation's popular vote.

Alexander Hamilton’s essay, The Federalist 58, was an attempt to convince the state of New York to ratify the constitution. The essay explained the plan the framers of the Constitution put in place to elect the president. The people would vote for the candidate they supported, but ultimately the president would be selected by a group of 538 electors who were appointed by the people. This group is known as the Electoral College. The Framers of the Constitution chose to use the Electoral College as the method for selecting the president as it assured that the president would be capable and qualified, eliminated corruption, and lessened turmoil in the election process.

If we somehow happened to be a capable vote, then we ought to have the capacity to really pick who might be president. The Electoral College removes that from us. The Electoral College is not by any stretch of the imagination reasonable for our rights and our opportunity. It, for the most part, takes away the ability to vote the president. The Electoral College was made in a period when votes were harder to gather and number.

All through the history of the United States of America, many people have discussed the abolishment of the Electoral College. For many reasons, some believe it is what makes our country have the type of government we have, some believe that it's what limits the power of the government, and many people such as Mitch McConnell believes it is what gives us our freedom and prosperity. While these are valid arguments there is a multitude of reasons to why the electoral college should be abolished. Such as there is only a need for twelve states in order to become the president, popular vote of the people for president can still lose, and the Swing states are given too much power and attention compared to that of the other states. This is why I believe in the abolishment of the Electoral College.

The first article's main point is that the United States of America should not get rid of the electoral college, but do away with the popular vote instead. The popular vote does not pick the president, it merely choosing which party of electors will be able to cast their votes towards their candidate. The article also said that instead of the electors for each state be the state's senators and representatives, they should be people of that state, decided by a lottery held before the election day. The second article said that if the country gets rid of the electoral college, then it would be as though the country is handing the election to the states that have the highest populations (i.e. California and Texas).

In 1787, years after the founding of the United States, the Constitutional Convention met to decide how the new nation would govern itself. The delegates understood that the need for a leader was necessary but still bitterly remembered how Britain abused of its power. The delegates agreed that the President and Vice President should be chosen informally and not based on the direct popular vote, thus gave birth to the Electoral College. The Electoral College is defined as “a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president.” Since 1787 the Electoral College has been the system for voting in the United States, but with our nation ever more changing and growing it

Current day, it has little relevancy since it was originally included to address also issues that do not exist anymore, including not trusting the decision to be made by the American people. When originally founded, they wanted to ensure the President was decided by electors who had the knowledge to make what they felt was informed decisions. Now, many people feel as though too much power is given to the electoral votes, and that their vote does not mean as much as someone in a different state. As it stands, many feel that small states are largely misrepresented and given too much power since the votes are not divided equally among the population. In fact, if the Electoral College system was not in the Constitution, it would undoubtedly be removed due to it being unconstitutional, because using the electoral votes violates the principle of one-person, one-vote.

This way many states get to see the candidate and get to hear from them. The Electoral College gives a balance between big states and small states.

Electoral college has been with us since the birth of the constitution, and to this day we are still using this type of system to this day. The Electoral College is a system that the United States uses to elect our upcoming presidents and vice presidents. Each state has electors equal to their senate member and house of representatives, however who ever gets the highest popular vote in the state gets the electoral vote. The issue is the Electoral College do not give votes to the people, but to the states. Which has some unfair consequences.