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. According to Arrington there’s no rational reason to keep the Electoral College. The College has the ability to reject the choice of the nation. This leaves the option for completely undemocratic election. This ability violates the sole principle that the people should have the choice and power to choose their leader (Arrington, 239). …show more content…
As long as a candidate gets over 50 % of a popular vote in a state, that candidate wins all of the Electoral College votes for that state (239). This allows for an unpopular candidate to win as long as he plays his cards right, and wins the right states with the most College votes. This causes candidates to focus on just a few states with close races rather than the majority of the U.S. to the detriment of most Americans. The Electoral College encourages third-parties to cause political unrest in an election. It’s highly unlikely for the third-party to win, but if they managed to receive enough votes it would mean that neither of the two major parties wins the majority (241). In 1948, 1960, and 1968 third-parties have been able to receive electoral votes leaving the possibility that they shift and skew the major party candidate’s opinions and decisions. This is too much power for third-parties to just able to disrupt an election
The state can only reward the candidate a specific number of votes. This forces the candidates to diversify themselves within the country to campaign in both Republican and Democratic areas. This also prevents the candidate from solely campaigning in very dense populated areas, which only helps with the popular vote in that specific area. Additionally, the Electoral College system keeps the government in line with the checks and balances. Certain proponents have argued that when the President is directly elected he can declare a national well-known mandate, which will undermine the other branches of the government, which would lead to tyranny (Advantages and Disadvantages of Electoral College,
The Electoral College is an antiquated process the founding fathers established in the Constitution as a compromise to elect a president not from a vote in Congress or popular vote of qualified citizens. But by both The Electoral College process consists of the selection of the electors, the meeting of the electors where they vote for President and Vice President, and the counting of the electoral votes by Congress. The College consists of 538 electors, which a majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. States are entitled an allotment of electors equals the number of members in its Congressional delegation: one for each member in the House of Representatives plus two for your Senators.
The Electoral College has a total of 538 electoral votes. Which means in the House there are 435 votes, 100 in the Senate, and not forgetting the three electoral votes Washington D.C. receives. This mean that the number of electors could change according to how the population changes in number, by each decade according to the census. Also for a voter to win they need to have 270 or more votes, to receive a majority rule.
In the Electoral College, each state gets a number of electors based on its representation in Congress. The Electoral College is the best method for electing a president for the country right now. The first reason the Electoral College is best, is that it ensures that all parts of the country are involved in the
The Electoral College Emily Ballou Contrary to popular belief, America’s presidents are not elected by direct democratic vote of the people. Rather, the United States Constitution declares that they are to be elected by what is called the Electoral College. Established in 1787 during the Constitutional Convention, our Founding Fathers formed the Electoral College as a compromise between majority rule and congressional representative appointment. The Founders created the Electoral College for protection.
The electoral college is an institution that can be found deeply rooted in the functionality of both the state and federal government. Due to this fact, calls for the abolition of the electoral college may cause for many changes to occur in these systems of government. In order to be able to decide whether or not we as a nation should update our electoral system, we must compare both the positive and negative effects that the abolition of the electoral college would have on these institutions. To start the paper, I would first bring to attention the history behind the winner-takes-all system and the intention of the states to move to this system. I would explain that the electoral college promises two electoral votes to every state, and how this disproportionately advantages smaller states.
After performing their civic duty and voting for a candidate, Americans feel disappointed if their candidate wins the popular vote while failing to be appointed to office(Drew Desilver, Pew Research Center). Disappointment equates to a feeling of hopelessness which, in turn, deters Americans from voting in future elections. If a candidate can win without the popular vote, then does their vote even matter?(Drew Desilver, “Pew Research Center) Discouragement has even been shown by presidential candidate Hillary Clinton who stated “it’s time to move away from the electoral college and move to the popular election of our president”(Mahler and Eder, “The electoral college is Hated by so many. So why does it endure?”).
The Electoral College is a system stated in the Clause 2 of Section 1 in the Article II of the United States Constitution to elect the President of the United States. According to the Constitution, each state needs to appoint electors, who in turn vote to select the President. The number of electors from each state should be the same as the number of Senators and Representatives that the state entitled in the Congress. Citizens from each state choose the electors through elections. The electors then cast the citizens’ votes for the candidate they prefer.
Maansi Dasari Mr. Morris AP English 3 12 January 2017 The Electoral College: The last remnant of slavery Amidst the chaos of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, emerges a cacophony of voices screaming for Electoral College reform. Many are angered by the results, others are confused: how can one candidate receive nearly three million more votes than the other and still lose the election? The Electoral College has been the United States’ method for electing a president since the Constitution was ratified, and this is far from the first time that it has been criticized.
The Electoral College is unconstitutional and should be abolished because it gives too much power to states with over 20 electoral votes and ignores the voice of the people. Not many people are fully aware of what the Electoral College is, but just 538 people decide who will be the next president. Each
In light of the recent election it is time for America to abolish the electoral college. Discuss. The results of the latest U.S. presidential elections has re-introduced some of the political issues concerning the election system. One of the main issues being discussed is the role of the long-standing Electoral College.
However, our Founding Fathers did not intended a pure democracy, being a pure democracy is not universally good, due to it leads to tyranny of the majority and rejects compromise which could damage the union. Thus, the electoral college has proven to be operating effectively for more than 200 years, due to our Founding Fathers created an efficacious, carefully designed election system through vigorous debate and deliberation. Altogether, the electoral college should be preserved, due to it
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 Electoral College is the process to which the United States elects the President, and the Vice President. The founders of the Constitution came up with this process. This was done to give additional power to the small states, and it was done to satisfy them. It works by the citizens of the United States electing representatives called electors. Each state is given the same amount of electors, as they are members of congress.
The Electoral College system assures balanced power between the states, puts the independent parties under control, grants balanced voting, and supports the major political parties. The Electoral College has proven itself to be very sufficient in determining the president and the vice president of the United States. Since this system has been successful since our Founding Fathers created it, there should be no reason as to why we should get rid of the Electoral