As 2016 comes to an end, America now finds itself reflecting on one of the most divisive elections in the history of the United States of America. Every single aspect of this memorable election will be studied for years to come. One aspect of this election that is not foreign to debate, is the way in which Americans select their President. This complex system election system is called the electoral college. This debate although fading at times in the mind of the typical American voter, has once again been brought to the forefront of political discourse. Many believe that the electoral college is out of date and have proposed alternatives to the electoral college. Although these alternative methods regarding the presidential election may be
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Additionally, there have been many ways in which these governments elect their leaders. The original thirteen colonies of America would be no different as they would have to establish a political system that effectively elected a president for the new young nation. Eleven years after the United States declared its independence from Great Britain, the founding fathers would meet at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in order to create an electoral system to choose the president. At this convention the original electoral college would be created and added to the constitution under article II, section 1. The founding fathers Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison were just some of the great minds that helped establish this electoral college. Despite the many complications and problems that stemmed from implementing a reliable system to elect a President, the founders were able to compromise and find common ground among the original 13 colonies. Nevertheless before a common ground was found there would be much debate over how the president would be elected. In order to combat the issues that Americans faced in regards to electing a president in the early days of the United States, many alternatives to the electoral college were proposed. In order to understand the current modern day electoral college it is crucial to understand the complexities and …show more content…
Some notable challenges include the cases of 1950, 1969, and 1979. The Lodge-Gossett Amendment was a reform plan that advocated for proportional allocation. This plan called for the dissolution of the electoral college, and proposed a system in which the presidency would be decided by a proportional electoral vote. This system dicated that votes for president would be directly proportional to the popular vote in each state. Additionally this proposal requires that the winner must receive more than 40% of the vote, and if no candidate receives 40 percent than the presidency and vice presidency would be decided by the senate and house of representatives. This proposal proved unsuccessful. In 1969 a plan was proposed after the election of 1968, in which a president would be selected by a direct popular vote. The electoral college would be abolished and it would be one vote one person. This plan also included a runoff in the case no candidate gathered the necessary 40% to become president. This plan also proved unsuccessful. Lastly one a proposal in 1979 also proposed the abolishment of the electoral college in favor of a direct popular vote election. While all of these proposals had some support, all of them proved unsuccessful to change the way in which americans select their
Additionally, there have been many ways in which these governments elect their leaders. The original thirteen colonies of America would be no different as they would have to establish a political system that effectively elected a president for the new young nation. Eleven years after the United States declared its independence from Great Britain, the founding fathers would meet at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in order to create an electoral system to choose the president. At this convention the original electoral college would be created and added to the constitution under article II, section 1. The founding fathers Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison were just some of the great minds that helped establish this electoral college. Despite the many complications and problems that stemmed from implementing a reliable system to elect a President, the founders were able to compromise and find common ground among the original 13 colonies. Nevertheless before a common ground was found there would be much debate over how the president would be elected. In order to combat the issues that Americans faced in regards to electing a president in the early days of the United States, many alternatives to the electoral college were proposed. In order to understand the current modern day electoral college it is crucial to understand the complexities and …show more content…
Some notable challenges include the cases of 1950, 1969, and 1979. The Lodge-Gossett Amendment was a reform plan that advocated for proportional allocation. This plan called for the dissolution of the electoral college, and proposed a system in which the presidency would be decided by a proportional electoral vote. This system dicated that votes for president would be directly proportional to the popular vote in each state. Additionally this proposal requires that the winner must receive more than 40% of the vote, and if no candidate receives 40 percent than the presidency and vice presidency would be decided by the senate and house of representatives. This proposal proved unsuccessful. In 1969 a plan was proposed after the election of 1968, in which a president would be selected by a direct popular vote. The electoral college would be abolished and it would be one vote one person. This plan also included a runoff in the case no candidate gathered the necessary 40% to become president. This plan also proved unsuccessful. Lastly one a proposal in 1979 also proposed the abolishment of the electoral college in favor of a direct popular vote election. While all of these proposals had some support, all of them proved unsuccessful to change the way in which americans select their