Electoral College System

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The Constitution of the United States does not leave room for democratic rule. There are several instances that indicate that this statement is true, some are: the Electoral College in the selection of a President, the ratio of citizens to Senators, and the President’s judicial appointment of Supreme Court Justices. The rules set forth in the Constitution do not constitute a democracy because the weight of each vote varies.
The Senate is one of the two sections in the Legislative Branch of our government. The Seventeenth Amendment states, “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.” (text, p. 649) This means that regardless
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citizens vote on who they would like to be president. Despite the fact that their votes are not the deciding factor. The Electoral College is a system set where “Each state is awarded as many delegates as it has members of the House and Senate” combined (text, p. 63). This totals to be 538 votes total which results in 270 votes needed for a candidate to win the election. The Electoral College was meant to combine participation of citizens, legislatures, and the state. Having said all of this, due to the imbalanced population votes in the Senate, there is an imbalance in votes in the Electoral College seeing as these votes are based on the number of members in Congress. These votes represent the citizens of each state. Consequently, there are some Americans whose voices are not as loud as others. This means that the 538 delegates chosen in the Electoral College will have a vote that will directly influence the election candidate. The citizens participate indirectly. They choose who the delegates are directly but this means that the citizens are having to go through a middle man to vote. There will be 538 delegates chosen no matter how few citizens vote. These delegates have a vote worth more than the citizens. When the Electoral College has cast their votes, a new president is elected and inaugurated, this person can then appoint a new Supreme Court Justice when a vacancy …show more content…
“The Constitution provides that all federal judges shall be nominated by the president with “Advice and Consent” of the Senate (Article II, Section 2).” (text, p. 387) With only the President deciding who the Justices will be, this is not democratic. The citizens of the United States have direct influence on who the delegates for the Electoral College will be, who then, choose the President. The President then chooses who he wants to be Justices. The votes of the people are only an echo bouncing off the walls of the White House. The President does not, however, have control over when vacancies will happen in the Justices. He also has to pass these appointed Justices to the Senate who have to confirm the appointees. The President’s vote is the only one that controls the selection of a Justice. The Senate can only accept or reject the President’s proposal, they cannot choose for the President. Unless he delegates that power to them. The citizens of the country have no direct say on this matter.
Democracy in the United States is inexistent on the national level. Everyone’s vote is not the same weight. Some get more than one vote and most get no vote. The U.S. national government does not rule democratically; it is a Republic that is run through leaders who are appointed by leaders, who are appointed by leaders, who are lastly elected by the citizens. This is not a

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