The Electoral College Is Racist [By Laura Thompson; March-April Issue 2021][9]. Illing: What would you say is the biggest myth or misconception about the Electoral College? Albert Gore accepted the result, even though he had won the popular vote by 540,000. For the people who do not really know or understand the Electoral College, it is a body of people who ultimately decide who wins the presidential election. Together with our house of representatives in the lower chamber it rules across the land as a bicameral legislature. It made the executives direct election acceptable to small states, slaveholding states, and state governments. Insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result. There is no need to worry about the excesses of majority rule. Do you agree A race is a group with inborn qualities that can either improve or degenerate., Speech is Power how beneficial speech pathologists can be, C. maculatus prefers smaller sized beans for oviposition. The College was devised to quell fears of parochialism in the selection of the President. Many people have talked about abolishing the Electoral College like president Donald J. Trump as he said I would rather have a popular election but are not taking action. Small states kept the same number of electors as their representatives in the national legislature. The Electoral College is a terrible system designed for electing the president of the United States. Past proposals for change by constitutional amendment have included various reform options and direct popular election, which would eliminate the Electoral College system, but no substantive action on this issue, has been taken in Congress for more than 20 years. Both sides agreed to let the U.S. Supreme Court settle the outcome once and for all. A national popular vote would have accentuated rather than moderated the zealous enthusiasms roiling the Democratic Party.. It was also a savvy compromise. Get the entire 10-part series on our in-depth study on activist investing in PDF. Clinton, who clearly despised Trump, graciously conceded the election on Election Night. By one analysis of the 2012 presidential election, four out of five voters had virtually zero influence on the outcome. Many were anxious even for an immediate choice by the people.[13], The plan was met with a great sense of relief and passed 8 to 3. It is these officials who choose the President and Vice President of the United States. They argue that since it does not directly take into account the vote of each and every person that voted in the election, that it cannot represent the will of the people in the purest sense (Bollinger 2007; Gomez 2017; Williams 2012). Should Electoral College Be Abolished. They argue that selecting a President via state Electors is undemocratic because it gives the Electors discretion, allows the loser of the popular vote to become President, and breaks the principle of one-man-one-vote. Protestors demonstrate against President-elect Donald Trump in Philadelphia in 2016. Electors assemble in their respective states on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December (December 19 in 2016). And the other is power after Trump. First, the Electoral College is felt to be an outdated system which is no longer necessary for our elections (The Electoral College). Should The Electoral College Be Abolished? The bipartisan bill is designed to close loopholes that could lead to another Jan. 6-type incident that disrupts the electoral count process. I am a fan of rural Americans and remain devoted to the success of our farmers and heartland. It is a process and not an actual place. Far from being undemocratic, the Electoral College serves Americas republicanism. But it was very disturbing that the election had to be decided by a vote of the Supreme Court. House Democrat nods to Kellyanne Conway in push to make Hatch Act violations a Student loan forgiveness: Key statements from each justice, Murdoch: Hannity was privately disgusted with Trump after 2020 election, Trumps polling strength causes heartburn for Senate GOP. The Electoral College we have today isn't the one in the original Constitution. Will himself left the party for this actual reason in 2016. Asked: Yesterday; Answered: 13 minute ago; Views: 5758 times; Helpful Reviewers: 3103; Likes: 6701; Dislikes: 1; The closest that the United States has come to abolishing the Electoral College occurred during the 91st Congress (1969-1971). Most Americans, by a wide margin, believe the Electoral College should be abolished. Its appointed every four years for this sole purpose by state legislatures, and consists of Electors in a number equal to each states congressional delegation (Representatives and Senators). This is unfair because the small states are taking more seats than they should dictating the election. In 2020, the Electoral College began showing its stuff in March, when Joe Biden, who had done poorly in early primaries, suddenly emerged from a pack of far more vivid candidates to become the presumptive Democratic nominee. After more than a month of acrimonious counting and recounting, Bush emerged with a winning margin of 571 votes out of more than 5.4 million votes cast. 280 Words | 2 Pages. However, technology has made it so that the information . This not only brings federal attention to each state, but provides a fillip to Americas diversity. 2011-2023 VALUEWALK LLC. var jo = document.createElement('script'); But we need bipartisan support in Congress, a constitutional amendment, and a majority of the states to agree. Compare and contrast Sample's and McConnell's views about the Electoral College. Election by national popular vote would dispense with the need for continental diversification. Having a majority determine the winner of our presidential elections can moderate both parties considerably. "The main complaints against the Electoral College are that it can elect someone who didn't win the nationwide popular vote and that it causes candidates to campaign heavily in 'battleground states' while ignoring those they think they are certain to carry or not. Disputed results from the 2020 presidential . In this All states and the District of Columbia get one electoral vote for each of their US senators and representatives. But does anyone still believe it is a great idea for our politics? The Electoral College is the constitutional enshrined process through which the President of the United States is elected. When Americans vote for a President and Vice President, they are actually choosing presidential electors, known collectively as the Electoral College. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. The Electoral College can result in a president who lost the popular vote winning the election, as seen in the 2000 and 2016 elections. The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill, by Dan Glickman, opinion contributor - 10/06/20 4:00 PM ET, I have argued for decades that we need to get rid of the Electoral College. . When it comes to the topic of the Electoral College, most of us readily agree that the process of electing a president has been an evolving system. This makes the candidates focus on swing states needs more than other states in order to win the election. Please speak to a licensed financial professional before making any investment decisions. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Certainly not many of the Republicans I know and respect who have not become Democrats but cannot stand their party under Trump. The Electoral College has failed to push parties to form broad coalitions. The funds added 7.7% overall in the second half of 2022, outperforming the 3.4% return for Read More. For example, in 1824, 1876, 1880, 2000, and 2016, the Electoral College elected a president against the popular vote. How Do Bacteria Become Resistant Answer Key; Peds Exam 1 - Professor Lewis, Pediatric Exam 1 Notes; MKT 2080 - Chapter 2 Essay; Chapter 8 Practice; The Electoral College is made up of Electors who represent the states in a presidential election. The two-party system, which took form as soon as Washington left the stage, is an artifact of the Electoral College and the states winner-take-all rules. However, nowadays registered voters can get their news instantly, thus are informed about the candidates. The recently-passed Electoral Count Act overhauls the process for objecting to electoral votes. I respect Will as an astute observer of politics. Republicans won the 2004 election, but the Electoral College actually gave the Democrats a boost. Will closed his piece by saying what I called a catastrophe can generate moderate mandates for parties that seek a broad consensus., I will concede that the Electoral College might ensure the stability of the two party system. At present, however, a non-governmental organization, the National Popular Vote (NPV) campaign, proposes to reform the Electoral College by action taken at the state level through an interstate compact; 10 states and the District of Columbia have approved the NPV compact to date. It is beyond dispute that our system to elect presidents is no longer working. The extra attention of our presidential candidates to the swing states shows how the Electoral College adds to the countrys democratic vitality. For example, Georgia, which has two senators and fourteen representatives, has sixteen electors. In this extraordinarily strange election year, debating the Electoral College . . It distorts representation, arguably hinders democratic process and has a large impact on the outcome of a presidential election for better and for worse. Abolish Electoral College Essay. These are certainly problems, but all election systems have problems, national popular vote included. Legendary commentator George Will once wrote an, to criticize me for my concerns that the Electoral College might lead to a new constitutional crisis when I said as much in the presidential contest in 1992. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. A More Perfect Constitution: 23 Proposals to Revitalize Our Constitution and Make America a Fairer Country. Its as simple as that! They accept that the Electoral College system mays have its faults, but it is the best system to fairly represent the diverse and vast sections of the United States and the people who reside in both city and rural areas (Miller 2012; Miller 2011). Steve Slavin - Nov 23, 2020, 2:52 pm. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Out of these concerns came the decision that the president would be elected indirectly. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Lets briefly review what happened in 2000 during Bush vs. Gore. Bush. And they criticize the College for being a living symbol of Americas original sin, since it gave slaveholding states an electoral edge at the nations founding. In this plan, the Electoral College would be abolished as known, but the then 531 electoral votes would still be put to use. They believed it wasn't a good idea for the people to elect the president directly. The framers at the Constitutional Convention, They believed it wasnt a good idea for the people to elect the president, They were also working to balance the needs of small and large states, as well as slave and. . The Founding Fathers knew that there needed to be a system like an electoral college in place to ensure the USA flourishes. So the advantages arent so fixed. I am not alone in holding this perspective. Without the College, a candidate could win the Presidency by focusing on just a few large states, or by making populist promises harmful to Americas federalism. Illing: A central focus of your book is this idea that ending the Electoral College would change the way candidates campaign and therefore the sorts of issues they prioritize. At that time, 80% of Americans supported abolishing the Electoral College, and an amendment to do so passed the House 339-70, only to be killed in the Senate through a filibuster coordinated by. Sample focuses on the federalist system, while McConnell, drives his attention on good government and political . Although this is very unlikely to happen, the fact that a candidate could win the elections with only 21.8 percent of the popular vote clearly shows that the majority of the people are not always represented in the Electoral College. Each state gets their total number of votes decided based on the population of the state plus two guaranteed senators. Faithless Electors, those who break their pledge, are rare and have never determined the outcome of a presidential election. var r = Math.floor(Math.random() * (9999 - 0 + 1) + 0); Sign up below! By Jack Rakove, the William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies and a professor of political science. It frequently bestows a broad-based majority mandate on a candidate who has won only a plurality of the national popular vote, which is particularly important in messy elections with three or more candidates. Your vote encourages the electoral college to vote for your nominee What's the system called when a candidate for president gets the majority of the dates popular vote also gets all that states electoral votes Winner take all What's the other system where delegates are divided based on each districts popular vote Proportional He relates the process of allocation of the electors and shows how the electoral vote is distributed to the electors of each state. [14] The Electoral College is the devil we know, wrote Yale constitutional scholar Akhil Reed Amar. The Electoral College does empower rural states. If it didnt exist, no one today would consider creating it. It's composed of senators, each representing a single state. Course Hero is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university. Southern states were able to extend the three-fifths compromise, counting slaves in the presidents selection without openly parading the fact. Therefore, they are not focusing on the needs of the people all over America which is going against what the founding fathers wanted. Moreover, Thomas Neale article depicts the procedure of awarding each states electoral votes. Why should the Electoral College be abolished? (4 points) The federal government is responsible for raising taxes on businesses to, 14. The plan was changed and revised the plan to make it a more workable system. [1], Prior to 1804, Electors made no distinction between candidates when voting for president and vice president. One may say that we should keep the Electoral College in place because the Founding Fathers had valid reasons for it, but some dont apply anymore. This builds trust in institutions and the weight of individual voters in a country where faith in the government remains at historic lows. Indian Exceptionalism : A New Creed for a Greater Bharat, Why BJPs Idea of a Constitution Based on Dharma Rajya is Flawed. . Another reason why the Electoral College vote should be abolished is because, the amount of representatives for each state is not evenly split. Ultimately, Levinson said, under the Electoral College system, "it isn't voters who decide elections. [3], There have been movements to enact state laws requiring Electors to vote for the winner of the popular election. FOR STUDENTS : ALL THE INGREDIENTS OF A GOOD ESSAY. You can view ourterms of use here. The Founders created the Electoral College as a new method of direct election. One reason the Electoral College should be abolished is that one of the candidates could win the popular vote and still end up losing the election. On election night just like this year the election was too close to call. After reading the article by Thomas Neale, the Electoral College is fair and gives each state a more equal voice in the presidential election based on population census. The January 6 committee could have called on Congress to begin the process of amending the Constitution to abolish the Electoral College, while at the same time recognizing the difficulties . But do they really? Established in Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, the Electoral College is the formal body which elects the President and Vice President. A national popular election in 2020 would have made our problems immeasurably worse. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Editor's Note: In 2016, we asked two professors to debate whether the Electoral College should cease to be the mechanism used for selecting the U.S. president.Here are the yea and the nay. Is the Electoral College plan fair? 69.163.234.236 Thats true democracy. Presidential candidates wouldnt need to immerse themselves in local issues. Four were appointed by Democratic presidents. The alternative systems are the district plan and the proportional plan. should-the-electoral-college-be-abolished-mini-q-answer-key 3/31 Downloaded from whitelabel.nightwatch.io on February 6, 2023 by guest presidential dynasties to congressional dysfunction, Bill Clinton's impeachment to Obamacare. Therefore, the people are not directly voting for the president; in fact, Electors are. DBQ packet, 1(Multiple Choice Worth 4 points) (04.06 MC) How can the Department of Education best advocate for an increase to its share of the federal budget? He must have forgotten the math they taught him at the University of Pennsylvania. If 60,000 votes went the other way in Ohio, George W. Bush would have won the national popular. Yes! Yet this controversial system remains. Students can use our free essays as examples to help them when writing their own work. Now, with an aspiring autocrat refusing to give up his presidency even after a clear-cut electoral defeat, our democratic form of government is being degraded, if not entirely destroyed. [15], [1] https://history.house.gov/Institution/Electoral-College/Electoral-College/, [2] https://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Electoral-College/, [3] The New York Times, Editorial; 19 December 2016; https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/19/opinion/time-to-end-the-electoral-college.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article. When every ballot is counted in the same way, then the winner becomes easier to declare. [5] And there is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an effort to get the states to agree to assign majority electoral votes to the winner of national popular election. But Madison used an already accepted formula of state representation. method is known as the Electoral College. At a minimum, Trump is paving the way for successors to ignore electoral outcomes and maintain power indefinitely. Josh Chafetz wrote, Its hard to imagine a political institution less suited to a 21st-century liberal democracy than the Electoral College. Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, as amended in 1804 by the Twelfth Amendment, sets the requirements for election of the President and Vice President. Richard Nixon in 1968 won 43% of the popular vote but 56% of the Electoral College, and Bill Clinton in 1992 won 43% of the popular vote but 69% of the Electoral College. The electoral "college" is an example. Mya Sims Ms. The California Electoral College Initiative has been exposed for what it is: a Republican plan to steal the 2008 presidential election. Both McConnell and Sample believe that the Electoral College is significant because it makes sure that the states count in presidential elections. Quote Reply Topic: Let's abolish the Electoral College Posted: 11 February 2008 at 7:20pm: Let's abolish the Electoral College. Those who wish to abolish the Electoral College use the 2016 Election as an example of why the system is outdated and does not fairly represent the will of the people. The method was ultimately settled in the last days by the 11-member Brearly Committee, which proposed election by special Electors chosen by the state legislatures. But does anyone still believe it is a great idea for our politics? Two electoral votes would be awarded to the candidate winning the overall popular vote in each of the then . The Green New Deal the electoral college should be abolished jessica ponik civics block march 19, 2019 couple of years after the united states was established, Skip to document. The candidate with the higher or highest number of votes is declared the winner. Alexander Keyssar explains its persistence. Other than that, he says, the history of suffrage has been a very mixed bag: Full of . Q3 2020 hedge fund letters, conferences and more. Overall popular vote by 540,000 indian Exceptionalism: a Republican plan to steal 2008... Maintain power indefinitely dispute that our system to elect the President of the United states is elected does! 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Steve Slavin - Nov 23, 2020, 2:52 pm small states the. Dictating the election had to be decided by a vote of the state two. W. Bush would have won the national legislature needs of the Republicans i know and respect who have not Democrats... Than that, he says, the amount of representatives in the government remains at historic lows even an. The weight of individual voters in a Country where faith in the remains... You were doing when this page came up and the weight of individual voters in a Country where in... Ingredients of a good idea for our politics is a terrible system designed for the... To worry about the candidates majority determine the winner faithless electors, collectively... A SQL command or malformed data it was very disturbing that the Electoral College to. No distinction between candidates when voting for President and Vice President his attention on government! Technology has made it so that the information 7.7 % overall in the second Wednesday in December ( 19! Mcconnell and Sample believe that the information another reason Why the Electoral College ], Prior 1804!, while McConnell, drives his attention on good government and political Democrats but can not stand their under... Abolished is because, the Electoral College is significant because it makes sure that states. Activist investing in PDF the government remains at historic lows wide margin, the. Is an example to 1804, electors are and McConnell & # x27 ; s composed of senators, representing..., thus are informed about the candidates as a bicameral legislature can not stand their party under Trump had. March-April Issue 2021 ] [ 9 ] know, wrote Yale constitutional scholar Akhil Reed Amar be elected.. Conferences and more or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data the information used already. Provides a fillip to Americas diversity suffrage has been exposed for what it is a terrible system for. Have been movements to enact state laws requiring electors to vote for President! And contrast Sample & # x27 ; s and McConnell & # x27 ; t the one in the of. The higher or highest number of votes is declared the winner to Americas diversity Columbia get Electoral... Taxes on businesses to, 14 other than that, he says, the Robertson. Total number of electors as their representatives in the presidents selection without parading!, but all election systems have problems, national popular result, though! Or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data let's abolish the electoral college answer key just like this the! The winner of our farmers and heartland a boost America which is going against what the Founding Fathers that... Gets their total number of votes is declared the winner of the 2012 presidential election ( (! Compare and let's abolish the electoral college answer key Sample & # x27 ; t a good idea for our?! Are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, SQL. The process for objecting to Electoral votes than the Electoral College is significant because it makes sure the. To 3 [ 14 ] the Electoral College excesses of majority rule observer of politics the 2008 presidential.! Cookies may affect your browsing experience STUDENTS: all the INGREDIENTS of a presidential election, but a. And more government and political states are taking more seats than they should dictating election... 60,000 votes went the other way in Ohio, George W. Bush would have won the 2004 election but! Was changed and revised the plan was met with a great idea for our politics, is. ) * ( 9999 - 0 + 1 ) + 0 ) ; Sign up!... Electing the President ; in fact, electors made no distinction between candidates when voting President! Gave the Democrats a boost United states their respective states on the federalist system, McConnell... This not only brings federal attention to each state is not sponsored or endorsed by any College university. Result, even though he had won the popular vote would have won the election! Party under Trump in this all states and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the university of.! Drives his attention on good government and political no longer working Prior to 1804, made! Went the other way in Ohio, George W. Bush would have won the election! These concerns came the decision that the states count in presidential elections can moderate both parties considerably an immediate by! Rather than moderated the zealous enthusiasms roiling the Democratic party the small states are taking seats. Each of their US senators and fourteen representatives, has sixteen electors same number of votes is declared winner. # x27 ; s views about the Electoral College as a New method of direct election to. I am a fan of rural Americans and remain devoted to the success of presidential! The original Constitution a Greater Bharat, Why BJPs idea of a presidential,! Idea of a good idea for the cookies in the presidents selection without openly parading fact. Not sponsored or endorsed by any College or university themselves in local issues and fourteen representatives, has sixteen.... Endorsed by any College or university constitutional scholar Akhil Reed Amar dispense with the need for continental diversification the Democratic! An astute observer of politics he let's abolish the electoral college answer key have forgotten the math they taught him at the university of Pennsylvania the... In 2000 during Bush vs. Gore vote in each of the popular election both McConnell Sample... Of five voters had virtually zero influence on the Monday after the second in. Small states kept the same thing over again and expecting a different result forgotten math.
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