The Electoral system is a large part of the cohesiveness in our country and requires the distribution of support throughout our election process. This paper will describe the structure and function of the Electoral College, will compare the Electoral College to a popular vote approach for elections, and assess the value of an individual citizen’s
The United States currently faces a severe problem with one of their governmental processes. In the democratic system of the United States, politicians are elected by voting from the citizens, in most cases. The problem the United States is facing is that people are no longer voting in elections for officials. This problem is discussed in the article, “In praise of low voter turnout”, written by Charles Krauthammer. The main idea behind this article is that voters are no longer interested in politics, as they were in previous generations.
Several years after the United States came to be, the Constitutional Convention met to determine how the new nation should govern itself. The delegates saw that it was crucial to have a president and vice president, but the delegates did not want these offices to reflect how the colonies were treated under the British rule. The delegates believed that the president’s power should be limited, and that he should be chosen through the system known as the Electoral College. The Electoral College is a body of people who represent the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the electing of the president and vice president. Many citizens feel that the Electoral College goes against our nation’s principle of representative democracy, while others
The Electoral College is a longstanding organization in place in the United States of America that was originally established by the Founding Fathers in create equality in presidential elections has become a topic of harsh criticism and controversy over the years. The Electoral College was established by the Founding Fathers of the United States at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in order ensure there was representation of the people while keeping the best interests of the nation in mind (“What is the Electoral College?”). At the time of the writing of the Constitution, there were two main ideas on how to elect a president. The first was that there should be a simple vote of all eligible people and who ever gets the most votes becomes
The Electoral College is a system stated in the Clause 2 of Section 1 in the Article II of the United States Constitution to elect the President of the United States. According to the Constitution, each state needs to appoint electors, who in turn vote to select the President. The number of electors from each state should be the same as the number of Senators and Representatives that the state entitled in the Congress. Citizens from each state choose the electors through elections. The electors then cast the citizens’ votes for the candidate they prefer.
Hence, the presidential campaign and election is shaped by the Electoral College, not the popular vote. Second, the presidential election should be the vote of the people, not the Electoral College. When our founding fathers wrote the constitution during the summer of 1787, the first 3 words they wrote were “we the people.” They believed that power should solely come from the people and that we should be able to exercise it effectively. Therefore, I find it hard to believe that the people of the United States don’t have much of a say in determining who they want as president, since the Electoral College is the primary institution that selects the president and vice president.
Did you know that on election day you do not vote directly for president. Many people don’t like that they don’t ultimintly decide for president. They however don’t understant that it is there for a quite a few reasons. The first is that the founding fathers created the electoral college, second that it ensures that every state gets a say in who the president is, and number three is that it makes sure that the president is chosen by a majority vote and not a popular vote. When the founding fathers built this country they made the electoral college so that the presadent could be picked by an educated population.
When the Founding Fathers created the Electoral College, it was not a time of the Internet and smartphones; colonists could not find information about a presidential candidate with the swipe of a finger. In fact, the eighteenth century version of CNN was a postman on horseback. Because colonists lacked access to political information, the founders felt voters could not be fully trusted with the duty of electing a president. However, this is where electors became a crucial aspect of the voting process (Mahler and Eder). In a time of advanced technology, voters today can be trusted to make their own choices.
Williams suggests that the founders thought that the Electoral College was a sensible plan, but things don’t always work out how they should (28). It is a relic of America’s predemocratic past when leaders were scared of having too much power over the people (Klinker, McClellan 1). Congressional Digest suggests that we are stuck in a time warp (31). We still rely on a horse-and-buggy election system in the age of the internet (Congressional Digest 31). Congressional Digest points out the fact that voters today know more about the candidates than they did 200 years ago (19).
The results of the election of 2000 will have implications on the United States for at least four years, and perhaps more. The day after the election, calls were already ringing out for the abolition of the Electoral College, along with as many calls defending it. This could indicate a sea change to how we elect our President - or it could amount to nothing at all. If nothing else, the election of 2000 renewed the prominence of the Constitution in the minds of the common
In 1787, years after the founding of the United States, the Constitutional Convention met to decide how the new nation would govern itself. The delegates understood that the need for a leader was necessary but still bitterly remembered how Britain abused of its power. The delegates agreed that the President and Vice President should be chosen informally and not based on the direct popular vote, thus gave birth to the Electoral College. The Electoral College is defined as “a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president.” Since 1787 the Electoral College has been the system for voting in the United States, but with our nation ever more changing and growing it
It is clear that American voters tend to avoid local elections and off-year elections. Run-off elections are also likely to register lower voter turnout as compared to first-round elections. The larger the gap between first round elections and run-off elections, the higher the decline in voter turnout. Moreover, there are lower percentages of young people voting as compared to the older population. This is an important point to note since it highlights that young people do not have information guiding them on the importance of voting.
When an individual decides to vote for the up coming election for the president of the United States of America they are in fact not voting for a candidate but for an elector instead that will cast your vote in your place instead. Although some might believe that they voted for the next president, 538 electors will make the vote. The method of selecting an elector to vote for the president instead of individuals choosing the president through their own vote is a system known as the “The Electoral College”. According to “We the People: An Introduction to American Politics” an electoral college is defined as “ the electors from each state who meet after the popular elections to cast ballots for president and vice president”.
The Electoral College should be eliminated because people do not have a clear choice in choosing the next President. This research paper will be discussing how the Electoral College affected the results of the Election of 1824 between the candidates Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams, and the political turmoil caused by the rumor of a “corrupt bargain”. The “corrupt bargain” occurred when Henry Clay, who had a spot in the House of Representatives, convinced the House of Representatives to elect John Quincy Adams. After John Quincy Adams was named the winner of the election, even though he had the least amount of electoral votes and popular votes, Henry Clay became his Secretary of State. After this, many Andrew Jackson supporters declared
The United States Is a democratic government. The citizens of this amazing country vote for the president, the govern of their state, vice president, ect. We also have a choice to vote or not to vote. That is one of the best things that we have in the way that our government. Not all the people in the country pay attention to who is running or what they are wanting to do when they are in office.