The Pros And Cons Of The FPTP

For many years, America’s voting system has been criticized, with the main point of interest being the Electoral College. Some say that the Electoral College is necessary to streamline and simplify the voting process, while others say that it is outdated and takes away power from American citizens. After investigating the subject, it is clear that the Electoral College should be abolished due to the three major defects its critics find in the system; its undemocratic nature, its tendency to give small states’ votes too much power, and its disastrous effects on third-party candidates.

Gerrymandering is a process where the ruling political party uses the map of their state to draw lines that create voting districts in favor of their party. The result of this is that it doesn’t reflect the voters political views. For about 200 years the government has used gerrymandering during political elections and it continues to be used today (King, Elizabeth) . But recently gerrymandering has become more controversial because people feel that it has taken away their rights as a voter and it swings the votes to one side by a big percentage. Current cases are before the courts to decide if gerrymandering is legal. Some states have been discussing whether it should still be allowed during elections. “Many efforts are underway to remedy this political

The main advantage is that it removes the concentration of power from one individual. This ensures that abuse of power is limited. Giving different individuals from varying parties will also result in the creation of checks and balances in the executive. A lieutenant governor from the Democratic Party will be able to check the activities and the undertakings of a Republican governor thus ensuring that they operate within the confines of the law and the powers of their office. Also, the system allows for the introduction or the enforcement of the manifestos held by both parties, thereby resulting in greater benefits to the population. Perhaps the greatest advantage of this type of system is that each member of the executive is accountable to the electorate. Their success in the subsequent elections will depend on how they perform in a given

Groups of people that hold a certain belief or have an idea different from other groups. A faction is basically a group of people who all agree upon the same thing and their point of view is different from other factions. factions can be small and others can be big, but each one is different. factions are organized and there are many factions inside the U.S.

Political parties hold far too much power in today’s election process and need to be abolished. Parties were originally only intended to serve as temporary coalitions for specifically controversial elections, and yet every election since the late 1700’s has been won by a specific party. The existence of political parties has had quite a few negative effects on America including the division of people, a lack of communication, and violence between opposing sides (U.S. History.org).

The election of 1796, John Adams versus Thomas Jefferson. The former won by only 3 single electoral college votes. In a highly competitive, controversial race filled with fake smiles and harsh glares, those votes made all the difference in the world to these two men and their running mates. Because George Washington refused a second term, political parties took root when election time came around. No one knew that this election in the early stages of Americas development would define the future of the United States of America. The Two-Party system soon controlled the decisions of all Americans. This is all this country has ever known, and if it were to every drastically change, our country would spin into ultimate turmoil. This system works

Through reading the Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge and pondering over its contents, I have come to love the ideals this president once foreign to me. I am able to identify with many family, educational, political, and life values exhibited in the book, and take great pride in the comparison of qualities with this historical figure.

The United States political structure is one of the most conducive and great political system in the world. One of the most popular aspects of it is the two party system, and the well-known Democratic and Republican parties.

Government is an important aspect in today’s world, especially regarding the opposition of being either a republican, democrat, or falling somewhere in between. One may identify them self as being one or the other, but how does one come to the conclusion of being a republican instead of a democrat or vice versa? It all comes down to how a person defines government and different political parties.

The existence of the Electoral College has remained a source of debate for the population of the United States for centuries. Despite the evident discontent surrounding it, the United States is largely unaware of the disconnect between citizens’ voices and the Presidency. It can be said that popular sovereignty, no matter how pleasant a concept, has become little more than an illusion the people cling to. In short, the Electoral College is an institution that must be abolished, because it violates political equality, is unfair to third party candidates, and is not an accurate representation of the people’s votes.

Benjamin Bolinger, the author of, “Point: Abolishing the Electoral College,” believes that America was founded on the idea of majority rule. He asserts that the Electoral College defies these ideals through the winner-take-all system, which has allowed candidates to lose the popular vote but still earn a ticket to the white house. The author believes that the President should be chosen the same way as every other elected official, by a popular vote. In a popular vote, the majority would rule and every person’s voice would matter (179). In addition, the author points out that America was also founded on the phrase, “no taxation without representation,” and yet four million United States citizens are excluded entirely from voting in the election. Citizens in United States territories, such as Puerto Rico, have a profound interest in presidential elections because they determine the fate of their nation. However, the United States’ territories are not allowed to vote; they have no representation. The author concludes that a popular vote would better represent every United States citizen. This system would also encourage third parties due to the decreased importance of a state’s party alignment (180). At the end of his paper, Bolinger acknowledges that this solution might not fix all of the problems but will at least get America’s

The series of events above that started the polarization between the two parties also led voters to switch party allegiance to the Republicans (David Brady). Further, the analyses in this realignment showed that those who switched were mainly urban, northern, and blue-collar, living in the industrial East and Midwest (David Brady). Following this realignment, the Democratic party was predominantly made up of the southern agrarian and Border state groups (David Brady). Additionally, policy results of this realignment included the gold standard, expansionism in the Caribbean, annexation of Hawaii and protective tariffs (David Brady). All of these policies reaffirmed the pro-industrial notion by beating “the radical challenge by the West”

Over the last decade congressional polarization has increased at alarming rates causing Washington insiders and outsiders alike to worry about the future of American politics and democracy. While Democrats and Republicans on The Hill cannot agree on much, they both acknowledge that the increasing level of polarization in Washington is crippling the entire legislative branch, thereby undermining the greatest democracy in the world. Numerous public opinion polls, over the last few years, have shown that the vast majority of the American public, regardless of party affiliation, disapproves of, and feels unrepresented by, the extremely polarized legislature (Gallup, 2016). However, year after year, despite how many Americans become disgruntled

Single Transferable Vote (STV) is developed by Thomas Hill in 1819 for the purpose of electing the Committee of the Birmingham (England) Society for Literary and Scientific Improvement. He was a mathematician and schoolmaster. The Single Transferable Vote (STV) is defined as a type of proportional representation that produces a proportional parliament with local representation and the direct election of individuals. Single transferable vote (STV) is the predominant form of proportional representative in countries with a heritage of English influence. STV is used for the election of the Dáil (Assembly) in Ireland, the Senate in Australia, the House of Representatives in Malta and local councils in Scotland. On the other hand, in the United

This sometimes mistaken for majority rule, they are quite similar in any situation involving only two options. For majority rule, the option with more than fifty percent is passed, and in the case of two options, the option passing fifty percent threshold is equivalent to option with most votes. However, if there are more than two alternatives, it makes these two rules different. Plurality could choose the candidate with most votes that has less than fifty percent of the votes. But with majority voting system, the candidate has to receive more than fifty percent of votes to win. An important characteristic of FPTP is that only the first preference matters, all other information is useless for the outcome. This leads to a problem that voters may not reflect their real preferences. For example, voters may forecast the one who has the best chance to win, and candidates with least vote have to face the reality that they have no chance winning the election. Therefore, such information may change how they behave, and tactical voting is possible to change the outcome. For example, it may turn out that casting a ballot for the person with more chances to defeat the candidate you dislike. As a result, most voters could become disinterested in the democratic process because they have no meaningful way to express their true preferences. What could be worse is three