In a presidential election, voters cast ballots for the candidate they prefer, though these votes only select their state’s electors. Electors, who are slated to vote for the popular-elected candidate, then vote in a second election to select the actual president. An electoral college system adds a layer of separation between the popular majority and the power of the federal government’s executive branch, while also giving the ability to misrepresent the popular vote. The electoral college is not democratic because the way of calculating the number of electors over represents the population in small states.
The framers of the constitution chose an electoral college over direct election of the president because the latter would connect executive …show more content…
A state 's number of electors are determined by the state 's total number of members in congress. This means each state 's gets one elector per representative in the House, plus two electors for the two members in the Senate. The method of election for the electors is not specified in the constitution. Many states have adopted a system where the party that wins the majority of the popular vote chooses the electors. Another way states have chosen electors is giving the choice to the state legislature. No matter how the electors are chosen, they must be chosen on the tuesday …show more content…
One main pro of the electoral college, said by defenders of the system, is that it is, “a healthier constitutional form that values the capacity to carry numerous,” political ideals across the nation. Secondly, the electoral college system, “[requires] candidates to assemble multistate and multi regional coalitions rather than focusing,” on large states and urban communities. In a direct election, the largest concentration of voters would be in the large states and in dense metropolitan areas. One main con of the electoral college is that though the small states are overrepresented due to, “the senatorial bump, some persuasive legitimating principle other than the fact that the framers endorsed the idea,” should continue to exist today, but does not (Rakove). According to Gallup Poll in 2011, 62% of americans preferred a popular vote system for electing the president, while “barely a third, 35%, say they would keep the electoral college” (Inc). There are different ways to look at the term democratic, so next we will describe what is meant by this
The framers of the constitution chose an electoral college over direct election of the president because the latter would connect executive …show more content…
A state 's number of electors are determined by the state 's total number of members in congress. This means each state 's gets one elector per representative in the House, plus two electors for the two members in the Senate. The method of election for the electors is not specified in the constitution. Many states have adopted a system where the party that wins the majority of the popular vote chooses the electors. Another way states have chosen electors is giving the choice to the state legislature. No matter how the electors are chosen, they must be chosen on the tuesday …show more content…
One main pro of the electoral college, said by defenders of the system, is that it is, “a healthier constitutional form that values the capacity to carry numerous,” political ideals across the nation. Secondly, the electoral college system, “[requires] candidates to assemble multistate and multi regional coalitions rather than focusing,” on large states and urban communities. In a direct election, the largest concentration of voters would be in the large states and in dense metropolitan areas. One main con of the electoral college is that though the small states are overrepresented due to, “the senatorial bump, some persuasive legitimating principle other than the fact that the framers endorsed the idea,” should continue to exist today, but does not (Rakove). According to Gallup Poll in 2011, 62% of americans preferred a popular vote system for electing the president, while “barely a third, 35%, say they would keep the electoral college” (Inc). There are different ways to look at the term democratic, so next we will describe what is meant by this