Is it fair for a state with a population of only 500,000 to have more voting power over a state with a population of over 37 million? That is the reality in the United States. The constitution and political system in the U.S have many aspects that are both democratic and non-democratic. Democratic can be defined as “favoring or characterized by social equality; egalitarian” or in other words, fair; whereas undemocratic can be defined as the opposite (“democratic”). When considering the system of a representative democracy, the electoral college, the Supreme Court and the Constitution itself, it is evident that even though they were perhaps made with the intent of somewhat equal representation, they are flawed in ways which make them undemocratic.
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The institution of the Electoral College or the way in which the President of the United States is picked was meant to be comprised of independent lawmakers who would promise their electors their vote, yet had the freedom to pick the president they thought would be the best choice. This system is democratic in the sense that it’s meant to represent the population better; however the reality is that it does not. The amount of members in the Electoral College that each state gets is in a way based on the number of senators and members of Congress each state has. When the population is also considered, this becomes a problem. For example, the smallest state by population in the U.S, Wyoming, has a population of around 560,000 people and two senators and one congressman so three electoral votes. The largest state, California, has a population of 37,254,503, and 55 electoral votes based on the number of representatives. When looking at the numbers per capita, each Wyoming elector represents 187,923 residents whereas each elector in California represents an average of 677,355 which is unequal with a ratio of 3.6 to 1. Therefore, Wyoming citizens have 3.6 times the “voting power” of California citizens (Petrocelli). Clearly, in a democratic system, each vote should count on its own. Furthermore, in order to win elections, presidential candidates focus on the 15 “swing” states needed for their electoral college votes. This, in turn, ignores the remaining 35 states which further shows how the system is undemocratic. Another problem with the electoral college is that in a similar manner to the House of Representatives and Senate, electors are not legally bound by their promise to vote. Therefore, the popular vote or the vote of the majority of the citizens in a presidential
The institution of the Electoral College or the way in which the President of the United States is picked was meant to be comprised of independent lawmakers who would promise their electors their vote, yet had the freedom to pick the president they thought would be the best choice. This system is democratic in the sense that it’s meant to represent the population better; however the reality is that it does not. The amount of members in the Electoral College that each state gets is in a way based on the number of senators and members of Congress each state has. When the population is also considered, this becomes a problem. For example, the smallest state by population in the U.S, Wyoming, has a population of around 560,000 people and two senators and one congressman so three electoral votes. The largest state, California, has a population of 37,254,503, and 55 electoral votes based on the number of representatives. When looking at the numbers per capita, each Wyoming elector represents 187,923 residents whereas each elector in California represents an average of 677,355 which is unequal with a ratio of 3.6 to 1. Therefore, Wyoming citizens have 3.6 times the “voting power” of California citizens (Petrocelli). Clearly, in a democratic system, each vote should count on its own. Furthermore, in order to win elections, presidential candidates focus on the 15 “swing” states needed for their electoral college votes. This, in turn, ignores the remaining 35 states which further shows how the system is undemocratic. Another problem with the electoral college is that in a similar manner to the House of Representatives and Senate, electors are not legally bound by their promise to vote. Therefore, the popular vote or the vote of the majority of the citizens in a presidential