The Demise of an Ancient Tradition In Federalist Paper 68 Hamilton stated “This evil was not least to be dreaded in the election of a magistrate, who was to have so important an agency in the administration of the government as the President of the United States”(Hamilton 1788). Hamilton’s reasoning behind the electoral college was to protect the people from an “evil”. In modern day circumstances, “evil” could be otherwise known as a dictatorship or tyranny. The greatest fear of the founders was a person holding too much power, as they had just emancipated themselves from a monarchy holding an unfit ruler, King George III in England. To prevent disaster, and protect the American people, our Founding Fathers created the electoral college. …show more content…
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?”). Despite encouragement from high profile politicians, like former President Barack Obama, as well as other celebrities to encourage people to go out and vote, recent elections resulting in the electoral college overriding popular vote have people losing faith in the …show more content…
Again, the separation causes citizens to question the purpose their vote makes on the election. This belittles their civic duty as they no longer respect their rights to vote, but feel it’s a mere distraction from the vote that will actually decide their next leader(Christopher Cantu, “U.S. Citizenship). This sets forth the motion that people don’t need to vote, thus diminishing the necessity for the right to vote. Through these events the American people are destroying the base at which their democracy was created
The current system is undemocratic. The electorate does not officially elect the president, those who are apart of the electorate college elected the president. No other country holds their election in such a convoluted manner.” “Our nation witnessed the result of allowing the Electoral College to determine the
These instances make it difficult for the people of the nation to feel as though they truly have a say in the presidential election; most tend to give up voting in its
One of Greatest aspects of the United States is it’s democracy. The government allows people to choose the next president every four years, Giving the power to the people. To electoral college was put in place to make sure everyone had a say in the election, not just the most populous states. In order to understand the electoral college, it is vital to see how it was created, why it was created, and what it is.
What is the electoral college? It is the system that the United States of America uses to elect its president and vice president, and while many argue about its effectiveness, its disadvantages are alarming. It was outlined and created in the Constitution in Article II, Section I, Clause II, because the framers of the Constitution feared democracy. This system allows for a group of people to formally cast their respective state’s vote for the election of the president and vice president every four years, on the basis of who wins the majority in the General Election in their state. Although it was created with the best intentions by the writers of the Constitution, we now believe that this system, the electoral college, is not the most fair
Though unlikely to be at the forefront of any 2016 presidential platforms, the Electoral College is a widely contested issue among partisans, many of who believe that a better method exists for selecting the President of the United States. This anti-Electoral College sentiment is also present among Americans nationwide, Republicans and Democrats alike. According to a 2013 Gallup poll, 61% of Republicans and 66% of Democrats would vote to do away with the Electoral College. In today’s contentious political atmosphere, in which Republicans and Democrats are constantly at odds with one another, any level of agreement between the parties clearly indicates that a change needs to be made. Changes are already starting to occur at the state level,
Every state or even region was likely to nominate their own candidate and it made the founding fathers were afraid that the people may accidently elect a person that they didn't really know much about and that was unsuitable for office. Though it is explained in McCollister essay, that without the electoral college it could mean that “would be destroy the two-party system” which wasn’t the “intention of the Founding Fathers, but is just the consequence of the electoral college”. Without modern technology, it would make it hard for the people to really know who they had voted for. This is somewhat not true anymore, there are possibly candidates that people don't know much about but since the advent of radio, television, and now even the internet people are much more well informed than they were in the 1700's. If you don't know what you need to know about a candidate or what he/she stands for then it’s easy to come by that information.
The Electoral College 1. Identify the reasoning of the framers of the Constitution for creating such an unusual system by which we choose our presidents. a. In 1787 the Electoral College was created by the framers of the Constitution. They devised a method to elect a president that would ensure that the person elected would not gain too much power and independence.
The Electoral College When the Founding Fathers congregated and drafted the government of the newly-formed America, they wanted a system that would not produce a tyrant, but could also produce a strong executive that would lead and consider the people. They created a system in which power could be checked and with hope, incorruptible. Distributing political power into the Legislative, Judicial, and Executive branches, and an elaborate process to elect leaders in each, the American Constitution was a document revolutionary in its conception. There are irrefutable strengths of the Constitution, just as there are undeniable weaknesses, however both are huge influences on the shaping of our modern political arena. As discussed in this paper,
Even today, the Electoral College ensures that “the preferences of minority voters count for almost nothing” (Hoffman). The popular “winner take all” system of distributing electoral votes at the state level fundamentally disenfranchises the conflicting opinions of minority votes (Hoffman). In alternative systems of distributing electors proportionally or using the national popular vote, the ballots cast by minority voters across the country would significantly add to one candidate’s total. In this manner, the effects of the Electoral College with regard to suppressing minority votes is appallingly similar to the types of political gerrymandering banned by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. (Kelkar)
Does your vote really matter? In our complicated election, will your vote matter ever really matter. The Electoral College should be abolished, for its lack of representation of America’s votes. In our most recent election, the electoral college played a huge part in deciding who would be the leader of our country. Though Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, due to the electoral college, what the majority of the people in our country did not matter and Donald Trump won through electoral votes.
The invention of the Electoral College is particular to The United States; there is only one like it in the world today. Many other countries use the popular vote, or use a parliamentary system to pick their leaders. This brings up the question of if the Founders, in creating a unique voting system, were mistaken. The passionate supporters of the Electoral College argue that this invention is fair and should be kept in use. In fact, they are wrong; the Electoral College should be abolished because of its undemocratic system, its discrimination against voters in different states, and the subversion of its original purpose as was intended by the Framers.
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
The United States currently faces a severe problem with one of their governmental processes. In the democratic system of the United States, politicians are elected by voting from the citizens, in most cases. The problem the United States is facing is that people are no longer voting in elections for officials. This problem is discussed in the article, “In praise of low voter turnout”, written by Charles Krauthammer. The main idea behind this article is that voters are no longer interested in politics, as they were in previous generations.
The electoral college was established by our founding fathers in the constitution as a compromise between the election of the President. The Electoral College was spelled out in article 2 of the constitutions in terms of the process on how that works. The electoral College it's an example of an important word. Indirect democracy; in which means that we do not choose our president directly. Why do we do that?
Several years after the United States came to be, the Constitutional Convention met to determine how the new nation should govern itself. The delegates saw that it was crucial to have a president and vice president, but the delegates did not want these offices to reflect how the colonies were treated under the British rule. The delegates believed that the president’s power should be limited, and that he should be chosen through the system known as the Electoral College. The Electoral College is a body of people who represent the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the electing of the president and vice president. Many citizens feel that the Electoral College goes against our nation’s principle of representative democracy, while others