The Failure Of The Electoral College

Improved Essays
The Electoral College
When the founding fathers wrote the constitution, there was conflict on who would determine the president of the United States. While, some believed the President should be elected by Congress, others believed that it should be popular vote by citizens. Hence, the Electoral College was established as a compromise. Conversely, the concept of the Electoral College wasn’t introduced in the Constitution until the 12th Amendment. According to BOOK TITLE the Electoral College is, "DEFINITION HERE" (Dye & Gaddie, 2014). Additionally, the Electoral College is important in our political system, due to the growing disinterests in politics in our country, but with the growing polarization between the parties has caused conflicts
…show more content…
BOOK TITLE states an electoral vote is, “DEFINITION HERE” (Dye & Gaddie, 2014). Each state is given a different amount of Electoral Votes. Granted, Electors according to the number of senators, always two, plus the number of U.S. representatives, which can fluctuate according to state population. TITLE OF WEB SITE states, “[m]ost states have a 'winner-take-all ' system that awards all electors to the winning presidential candidate. Though, Maine and Nebraska each have a variation of 'proportional representation '” (Electoral College, n.d.). States that have the proportional representation allocate their electoral votes according to the popular vote, meaning both candidates receive elector votes from a state. There are debates on whether or not the electoral college is fair due to the winner-takes-all system, or whether the proportional representation is fair, while proportional representation is closer to an actual democracy. Nevertheless, how the electoral votes along with how they’re distributed to the candidates, could fall under applied states’ rights therefore protected under the 10th

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The Electoral College is in place to decide the president of the United States. There are people that agree on it and people that do not. The Electoral College System is an inadequate form of electing the president of the United States, there are better ways to go about choosing a president in a more Democratic way. Having a popular vote, or by deciding by congressional districts would be other options that Congress has thought about, and even states have signed in on being for a National Popular Vote. The Electoral College is a representation of the popular vote, on the other hand it makes it unfair at the same time.…

    • 1326 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For hundreds of years, we have used the electoral vote rather than the popular vote when we have had to select a president and vice president. In this essay, we will be examining the structure and function of the Electoral College, comparing the Electoral College to the popular vote and assessing the value of the individual citizen’s vote under the Electoral College system. The Electoral College was created in 1787. The reason, the Electoral College was created, was to give the power of electing a president to the states and not to the people themselves.…

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Our founding fathers established this process between the Congress and popular vote by the people to elect a President of the United States. An Electoral College is that each state is the same number as senators ans representativies that is present in the U.S. Congress. Total number of votes including the District of Columbia is 538. In order for a Presidental Elect to when his/her seat as Presidental of the United States by the Electoral College is 270 votes. Since the radification of the Twelfth Amendment in 1804 and still the constitional foundation for presidental elections today (O’Connor, Sabato, Yanus pg. 330).…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    the constitutional body designed to select the president. This system is described in Article II of the Constitution. (Gitelson, p.48) National Popular Vote Interstate Compact- a bill that would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Congressional District Method- alternative method of distributing electoral votes through an allocation of congressional districts, and a statewide vote.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Electoral College Dbq

    • 855 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In 1787, at the Constitutional Convention, some delegates wanted a popular vote to elect the president. Others argued that Congress should decide. However, the smaller states were not fans of either of these ideas. They feared that under either of those options they would be ignored by candidates, and be covered up by the larger, more populous states. The Electoral College became the compromise to accommodate the concerns of the smaller states, but still allow for a democratic system.…

    • 855 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The founding fathers of our nation spent over two months trying to devise a plan that would have a fair and just way of elected our nation’s principal administrator. The Electoral College is constructed of state electors that equal the number of the United States House of Representatives plus the 2 senators from each state. The District of Columbia has three electoral votes even though it is not a state and has no voting representation (“Presidential Election Process”). There are 538 electors total for the Electoral College and 270 electoral votes are needed to win the presidential election (“Presidential Election Process”). These individuals are picked by the political parties of the states that they represent and they vote in December and Congress then tally’s these votes in January.…

    • 1111 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The electoral college has made up our nation's election system. There are 538 electors in the United States. How it works is, if the nominee wins the majority vote, then they win the electoral vote for that whole state. The electoral number is based on the number of representatives and senates that state has. The electoral college should change because the citizens of America should count each vote, give the larger states more electoral votes, and by making sure there are no illegal actions taking place.…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The time for the Electoral College has passed as the times have progressed. As technology has advanced, the spread of information has become as simple and fast. When the founding fathers implemented the system, it made sense because most of the population was illiterate and uninformed; the early Americans needed a leader make the best decision on their behalf. Today, the American citizens are educated and have the means to make the correct decision for themselves. Popular vote should be the means of election because the Electoral College fails to represent everyone equally and, it is unfit for a democracy.…

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Therefore, they came up with the Electoral College. In this system, the president is chosen indirectly. Each state gets a number of electoral votes based on how numerous the numbers of the members are in the House of Representatives are,…

    • 1009 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Electoral College was a system outlined in the United States’ constitution by the founding fathers, as the method in which they believe the president should be elected. But with the progression of time the views on the necessity of the Electoral College has become a controversy, as now two factions exist with one faction believing that the Electoral College is an illegitimate method for the election of a president. Though this faction exists and believes the Electoral College is an unfair system that gives a disproportionate voice to different United States’ citizens, but is it truly unfair and unjust. As the Electoral College is a part of the United States constitution where it can be found in Article II, Section I along with a few clarifications…

    • 1367 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Electoral College Flaws

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Dear State Senator, the electoral college is an obsolete system of election. Although the electoral college was an idea set by the founding fathers in the constitution, this form of election is not effective any longer. People have the right to vote, but this form of election is not directly voting for a representative. The electoral college essentially makes the people vote for electors who then have the opportunity to vote for whom ever they would like. The electoral system is an archaic system that needs to be exchanged for the popular vote because the people do not vote for an actual representative, the system has failed before, and the system has the opportunity to have an even greater mishap.…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Electoral College Abolish

    • 1518 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Abolishing the Electoral College: is it wise? Many people have no idea what the Electoral College is. Those that are informed tend to want it gone since it does not allow the people to have a single vote. It is definitely a weird system that the U.S. uses to elect a president.…

    • 1518 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to the U.S. Election Atlas. “Given all these drawback, the electoral college is not an effective way of collecting the collective opinion of voters in choosing a presidential candidate”. Electoral College is obsolete and compromised approach, this unjust system should be abolished. The ideal voting method should have equal right among all voters.…

    • 1330 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Because of this claim and the complications brought forth by a complex system, many people call for the abolishment of the electoral college. A dismissal like this is a terrible idea because the electoral college is an institution in which our country is based. To understand why the electoral college is important, one must look at the facts to see why it is our only option. Although the electoral college has its flaws, it is important to understand the consequences of switching to the popular vote, the preservation of Federalism and how it proves the electoral college is not outdated, and perhaps most importantly how it has led to the development of the Democrat and Republican parties that strive for broad appeal. Before delving into each of these topics, it is very important to understand further how the electoral college works and why it is such a highly criticized…

    • 1924 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    We as a nation, we should be able to decide the president and vice-president for our country. The Electoral College is a way for the Government to control the way politics are decided. People should decide the president, because people know the truth. The electoral college takes away our right to vote, and it is sound a little bit weird but it is the reality, some of the reason is because most of the time the popular vote it does not count in the reality, the smaller states favored the Electoral college because of the number of electors that they have and also, in the reality our votes do not count.…

    • 425 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays