Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College
The presidential process consist of 4 main steps which are, primaries and caucuses, national convention, general election and the electoral college. This is the way the president have been chosen for many years. Not everyone agrees all the time, but this time it seems that there is more people upset over the results from the presidential election. Many say that it was unfair or that it was somehow rigged. This process has been around for many years, but does this mean it is perfect? Does it need some adjustments? The most important question would be Is it fair? Does it really take into account what the people want? All these questions arise, yet nothing is ever really done to fix the problem, if there is one. In order to figure out what to do people need to take a closer look at the whole process and really analyze it.
Most people argue that the electoral college is what is unfair about this whole process. Some of the pros about the electoral college is that the founding fathers created this because it gives the power to choose the president to those electors most likely to possess the information to make the best decision instead of uneducated voters. This is no longer a relevant problem because we now have new technology which allows voters to get information on a candidate. Another thing is that now members of the Electoral College are now selected by the political parties and they are expected to vote along party lines regardless of their own opinions about the
Electoral College Pros And Cons
The electoral college was a system that was invented to help our country get a fair system to elect the president. This system provides the best way to have the majority of the Americans be happy with the decision of who is elected as president. It does that by coming at the election from multiple different sides. The electoral college prevents corruption and makes sure that the people that are going into office are qualified. This way people from foreign countries that have no idea what our country's issues are and they always have our country's best interests at heart. Also the electoral college makes sure that the people going into office aren't stupid and have some idea of what they need to be doing to lead our country to success.
Corruption can come from many different people. When the same group of people are always in government it becomes a situation where this group of people runs government. And when someone wants to be elected they might do whatever the group of people wants to be in there favor. The Federalist paper number 68 it says "He might otherwise be tempted to sacrifice his duty to his complaisance for those whose favor was necessarily to the duration of his official consequence" (Hamilton). There are also people from foreign countries that want to be the leader of America just for the benefit of their home country. They...show more content...
To help them be able to make these decisions they need to have an education to back them up. The Federalist Paper number 68 says a man that runs "should be made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station, and action under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice" (Hamilton). So under any circumstance the president needs to be able to make the best decision for our
The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College
When it comes to the electoral college, citizens usually have very contrasting views. The electoral college is the system used to elect the president. The winner of the popular vote in a given state receives all of the electoral votes and the first candidate to reach 270 votes wins the presidency. The electoral college is a very outdated system that goes against the will of Americans, but there are those who express opposing viewpoints. The electoral college is not truly representative of the will of the people. Five times in history, the victor of the electoral college did not win the popular vote. Two of these instances have been in the last five election cycles. There is a very evident problem when the American people choose a president but the poorly structured system elects a different one. Three million more people voted for Hillary Clinton than Donald Trump which is almost the entire population of Oregon. Swing states are a very...show more content...
This problem will not be as large as detractors claim because the RNC and DNC will still endorse and give the nominations to one national candidate. The national party endorsements are what propel a candidate to the ballot in November and these microcandidates would disappear very quickly. In "The United States Needs The Electoral College Now More Than Ever," Anderson expresses the idea that the electoral college promotes federalism and democracy. This argument falls apart because the intentions of the electoral college are inherently undemocratic. Electors are given the power to switch the vote against the will of the state because the founders were terrified of a majority being wrong because of their past relationship with England. We have moved past those days and have institutions in place to stop and remove a reckless or criminal president from
The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College
When it comes to the electoral college, citizens usually have very contrasting views. The electoral college is the system used to elect the president. The winner of the popular vote in a given state receives all of the electoral votes and the first candidate to reach 270 votes wins the presidency. The electoral college is a very outdated system that goes against the will of Americans, but there are those who express opposing viewpoints. The electoral college is not truly representative of the will of the people. Five times in history, the victor of the electoral college did not win the popular vote. Two of these instances have been in the last five election cycles. There is a very evident problem when the American people choose a president, but the poorly structured system elects a different one. Three million more people voted for Hillary Clinton than Donald Trump which is almost the entire population of Oregon. Swing states are a very...show more content...
This problem will not be as large as detractors claim because the RNC and DNC will still endorse and give the nominations to one national candidate. The national party endorsements are what propel a candidate to the ballot in November and these microcandidates would disappear very quickly. In "The United States Needs The Electoral College Now More Than Ever," Anderson expresses the idea that the electoral college promotes federalism and democracy. This argument falls apart because the intentions of the electoral college are inherently undemocratic. Electors are given the power to switch the vote against the will of the state because the founders were terrified of a majority being wrong because of their past relationship with England. We have moved past those days and have institutions in place to stop and remove a reckless or criminal president from
Electoral College Pros And Cons
The number of electoral votes decided for each state are based on the number of electors each state is entitled to represent a state in the Senate and House of Representatives known as Congress. The state of North Carolina has fifteen electoral votes and those electoral votes were won by presidential candidate Mitt Romney (winning 50.39%) in the 2012 election. It is understood that the Electoral College has some positive attributes to include maintaining divisions of power between the three branches of government, it promotes a two–party system and allows minority and interest groups to be represented. Unfortunately on the negative side this voting system does not reflect the popular vote of the people, it discourages third parties and then
The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College
Throughout the past presidential election, and many others, the ideal of electing the president by popular vote has been at an all–time high conversation topic compared to previous years. While many argue that the Electoral College defeats the purpose of voting, and diminishes the majority's voice, this is certainly not the case. Without the Electoral College, elections would quickly become, and encourage, radical and corrupt ways in their voting systems, that could possibly result in a detrimental nationwide political crisis of voter fraud, and a rise to direct democracy.
Majority of those who strive to abolish the Electoral College, are in simple terms; angry because they didn't get their way in the election, or simply don't...show more content...
The Electoral College also encourages certainty and stability amongst elections. Since voting is managed on the more manageable, and more easily contained state level scale, it prevents the national crisis of a nationwide recount, since it is significantly more difficult to contest 50 separate elections throughout the nation.
The Electoral College is responsible in aiding the protection of the nation's two–party system. As explained by Tara Ross in Anthony Taylors article "Making A Case for the Electoral College" "The electorate would splinter its votes among many candidates. Multi–candidates' presidential races would result in constant recounts, uncertainty, and consistent runoffs. While the Republican and Democratic party don't necessarily prevent the election of a third party, they certainly do aid in the lack of third party presidential nominees and selectants. While this is the case, many Americans are beginning to turn to the idea of a third–party candidate. Such as Jeffrey Jones findings in his online news article featured in Gallup "Americans Continue to Say a Third Political Party Is Needed" he found that "Americans' current desire for a third party is consistent with their generally negative views of both the Republican and Democratic parties, with only about four in 10 viewing each positively. Americans' views toward the two major parties have been tepid for much of the last decade. However,
Pros And Cons Of Abolishing The Electoral College
Electoral College Body
The Electoral College should not be abolished because most voters actually still are not informed today. How would you feel if a crazy president was decided because of all those uninformed voters who vote for the wrong person? Just imagine what could happen to yourself and the rest of America! The Electoral College also should not be abolished because it helps preserve our federalist government. It is proven that the Electoral College helps preserve our federalist government because it lets some of the smaller states count in elections too. The states can now actually make a difference in the outcome of the election. People do say that Electoral
Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College
"I'm sorry we ever invented the electoral college" Al Gore. Many think the electoral college is a great thing, others? Not so much. If you're unaware of what the electoral college is, it's a process, not a place. The founding fathers established it in the Constitution as a compromise between election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. There's pros and cons of the electoral college, and by the end of this essay you may decide if you're for or against it.
To begin, Pro number one is that the founding fathers "enshrined" the electoral college in the constitution because they believed it'd be the best method in choosing a president. The electoral college was used as...show more content...
Today, people have the technology to get informed and learn new information about the candidates. Also, even though Alexander Hamilton saw the electors as being "free from any sinister bias," we've learned that members of the Electoral College are now selected by the political parties and they're expected to vote along party lines regardless of their own opinions about the candidates. This meaning that democrats vote for democrats, republicans vote republicans so on and so forth.
In my honest opinion, I think the electoral college should be done away with. People may disagree, but here's my argument. When voting for a president, someone who is going to have a majority of the power in his/her hands, yes some people may think irrationally. But the founding fathers weren't thinking about the future per say. They were only trying to make sure that for the next couple of years voting would be fair. Were they really thinking 100 years ahead? If we were to do away with the electoral college, we would've had a different president today. Instead of making our nation happy, we try to mask the fact that we're being unfair, while trying to be fair. When a majority of people vote for one candidate, and the other candidate wins, people get upset. We didn't want to give power to high–populated states, The two main political parties can count on winning the electoral
The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College
In the United States, the Electoral College determines the victor of a national election. Each state has its own number of electoral votes, which is determined by state population. This system is a "winner takes all" system. Which means the candidate with 50 percent or more of the votes in an individual state gets all of that states electoral votes. The 2016 presidential election will have 538 electoral votes, this means that the election will be decided who is the first candidate to 270 votes. Some people have seen this system as outdated and unjust. Many are looking at a way to change the system and others would like to do away with the system
Understanding the factors that warranted the creation of the system is essential. When the...show more content...
The continuation of the Electoral College is constantly debated. Some want to discontinue the system while others want keep it. There are several arguments used by those who want to continue the system. One argument by Electoral College Advocates is the Electoral College balances the power of the large and small states in elections. These advocates state that doing away with the Electoral College would give the states with larger populations too much power in the outcome of elections. The advocates feel that presidential candidates will spend their resources on the states with the largest amount of voters. These advocates also believe that the Electoral College protects minorities' interests. Some believe that without the Electoral College candidates would spend their time and resources on the majority of nation because that is where most of the votes will come from. Some advocates also argue that the Electoral College helps maintain the federal character of the United States. They argue that the system gives both the people and the states an important role in the electing of a president.
There are advocates for the continuation of the Electoral College; however, there are also advocates for the subversion of the system. Many feel that the Electoral College turns away people from voting. Democrats in dominantly conservative states such as Texas or Alabama may feel that there is no point for them to vote. Republicans in dominantly liberal
Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College
Prior to reading these articles, my thoughts on the Electoral College were primarily negative. Evidenced by all types of outrage following the 2016 presidential elections, I thought the idea of the Electoral College seemed genuinely unfair. I understand that its original purpose was to help create a sense of fairness for less populous areas in addition to other factors, but I maintain that this model is outdated, and should be replaced. I have thought for some time now that there must a better model with which we can replace the Electoral College. I can understand the Founding Fathers' skepticism in instituting a direct democracy, as that could take a dangerous and overpowering turn in a still–developing country. I am among those who author
Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College
Electoral College
The electoral college is a method for choosing the president. The system was created by the founding fathers to help choose the president in a time when many people were far less educated than people today. The electoral college is an outdated for selecting the president that needs to be abolished in favor of a popular vote from citizens.
Although the electoral college is supposed to be a system to help citizens pick the president, the system itself only considers the opinion of the citizens. The electoral college is made of electors from each state. There are five–hundred–thirty–eight electors in total, who are the ones who actually pick the president. In most states the most popular candidate among the electors of that state receives all of the votes for that state. The candidate who wins all of the votes doesn't necessary have to be the winner of the popular vote for that state, as it is the elector's choice who they get to vote for in forty–eight states....show more content...
The electoral college's design also means that the campaigns of the candidates are targets at specific states, while other are ignore entirely. A common example is that republicans don't campaign to California, Because it is almost guaranteed to vote democrat. is that JJ According to 'The Indefensible Electoral College' "During the 2000 campaign... voters in twenty–five of the largest media markets didn't get to see a single campaign ad". This means for a candidate to win the election they do not need to appeal to the majority of the american public, only to select 'swing' states. However, with a popular vote system all people receive equal representation in the election both in big and in small
The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College
Would you be okay with a group of hive minded uninformed idiots choosing the leader of your country? I believe that the electoral college should stay in charge of the election. I believe this because of the fact that regular voters mainly vote to express their beliefs instead of making a change. Second of all, it is a lot less likely to tie, and the president can't win by just winning over a higher population area. Most voters aren't in the mindset of making a change. Most believe that their vote will not matter. Most don't even do any research at all. The population is so used to the electoral college that they don't care or are too lazy to actually choose the better candidate. My second reason being that the college is less likely
Electoral College Pros And Cons
The Electoral College has been very promising by continuously doing what it was made to do.. The Electoral College comes with its pros and cons. People want to keep the Electoral College and others want it gone. The Electoral College should be maintained for the future elections, because it has provided much help for many elections.
The Electoral College always has its huge impact on the elections and more importantly on the very close elections. Both Republican and Democratic candidates feel at times that if their parties win the popular vote, they win the election, but that is when the electoral votes play their part. The electoral votes are combined by states and the electors in each state abide by the people's voice, but also have a chance...show more content...
Throughout history there hasn't been as much controversy toward the Electoral College results during the elections. The Electoral College itself promotes a broad two party system ideologically and geographically, while maintaining a federal system of government and representation. (Benjamin Zycher) The Electoral College also follows the country's history by making a decision while using popular support or a more important group of people that are separated from the population. Sometimes, the Electoral College may determine a winner based on the decision of the faithless electors, which leaves that specific state in misery by overriding the people votes. Having a more educated decision is what truly separates the Electoral College and popular vote. The education of a vote stops the uneducated people from voting with their opinions that could be categorized in all types such as religion, race, laugh, health, and popularity mainly anything. Basically, the Electoral College takes the people's votes and overall takes a look at who was chosen, then discuss it and either go along with the people's voice or change it based on their knowledge. I honestly believe all faithless electors makes a strong decision because they may have felt that the people made a poor decision overall. Some uneducated people feel liI am all for the Electoral College regardless of fraudulent voting. It's hands down better than population voting that will majority be in favor to the bigger states with more people.. The Electoral College has been worth all the flaws that it brings so I say we keep it and there is always from for
The Founding Fathers worked to create an equal nation without the chance of an oppressive ruler, such as King George the Third. They hoped to balance the power and make sure that the nation was never in the hands of a leader like him. To accomplish this goal of equal representation they created the Electoral College. This created a system where Americans when voting for the President, weren't voting directly for the candidates and were voting for electors that would cast votes to represent their state. Although this system worked in the time that it was created, when there were fewer states and people, now there are problems within this system leading to an election that isn't as representative of the nation as the Founding Fathers would have probably wanted. Although it provides many benefits and is better than other systems of electing presidents, there are too many ambiguities for the system to not be labeled as wrong and unequal. The Electoral College is an inept and disadvantageous system due to its influence on the citizen's efficacy, misrepresentation of the people, the chance of electing a president that the majority don't want, and the ability of...show more content...
Even though individual representation may be lower in large states, the state as a whole has more power in the electoral sense. Take the 2016 election, for example, it can clearly be seen that the relationship between the popular votes and the electoral votes is not direct. In this example, Trump won many large states, but by small margins, helping him to gain the electoral votes, but not all the popular votes of that state. This is also a misrepresentation of the population of the country. Although this has only happened five times in the history of the US and the popular vote usually is directly related to the electoral vote, the fact that it can happen is
The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College
The Electoral College was created in the year 1787. Before it was established, the men who drafted the Constitution also known as the Framers debated several formats for electing the president and vice president for the United States. One of the formats they were debating was to have the Congress choose the president however some felt that there may be corruption, inappropriate political issues and possible interference from foreign powers (Kimberling, W.C. 2008). The other format the Framers were debating were to have the State legislatures select president but it was also rejected because of fear that the president that is obligated to the State legislature have a possibility to wear down federal authority and underestimate the idea of the federation (Kimberling, W.C....show more content...
The third format they were debating was to elect president by a direct popular vote. This format was also rejected since the Framers thought that without sufficient information about candidates from outside their State, people would definitely vote for their "favorite" from their own State (Kimberling, W.C. 2008). Finally the last format the Framers came up with was an indirect election of the president through Electoral College which is still in use today (Kimberling, W.C. 2008). The reason why the Electoral College was decided was because the Framers wanted individuals from each State who are knowledgeable and intelligent who will be great candidates to select the president based strictly on value and favoring a particular State, origin, or political party (Kimberling, W.C. 2008). The Framers were also referred as the Founding Fathers which consisted of former soldiers who had fought in the American Revolution. Most of the Framers were well–educated and remarkably smart and accomplished thinkers (Billinkoff
The voting process can be, undoubtedly, very confusing. Currently the United States uses the process of the Electoral College. The Electoral College allows each state to have a certain amount of votes based on the state's congressional delegation. Each state receives two votes for U.S Senators plus the number of U.S Representative each state has. The only exception to this is the District of Columbia who receives three electoral votes. The state of Missouri currently receives ten electoral votes and in the 2012 election, Missouri's electoral votes went to Romney. There are many arguments as to why using the process of Electoral College is beneficial and non–beneficial. Many arguments break down into 3 major pros and 3 major cons. People
Electoral College Pros And Cons
Electoral College Pros and Cons
The 2016 presidential election was an example of the discrepancy between the Electoral College votes and the national popular votes. If the last presidential election had been decided by a national popular vote, then Hillary Clinton would have won the presidency because she had the majority of votes. However, due to the design of the Electoral College, Donald Trump won the election for president in 2016; although, he lost the national popular vote. Just as some people questioned the effectiveness of the Electoral College during some of the previous elections, several people questioned the effectiveness of the Electoral College again in 2016. The debate about whether the Electoral College should be kept or...show more content...
The agricultural sector may not be as common in other areas of the U.S. but still needs to be represented (2). The small states farmers' interests are just as important as the interests of the metropolitan areas of the bigger states, hence, the initial distribution of the two electoral votes for every state. Picture one shows the distribution of electoral votes among all states. It illustrates the importance of the extra electoral votes assigned to the small states, as well as where the most populous states are located.
Picture one: Each state's allocated number of electoral votes Source: USA.gov, "Presidential Election Process," usa.gov (accessed Mar 20, 2016)
Second, there are the critics who want to abolish the Electoral College for various reasons. One of the top arguments mentioned is that it is undemocratic. As Alex. K. Rich and Heather Newton explain in their book "Point: The Electoral College has Destroyed Democracy," the "one–person, one vote" does not exist within the Electoral College. People vote for an elector without knowing who he/she is, who then casts a vote on their behalf. Due to the "winner–takes–all" (in 48 of the 50 states) process, the winner of the plurality of the votes in a state receives all of the electoral votes. Therefore, not all of the votes originally cast count (2).
Another top argument to abolish the
Pros And Cons Of Electoral College
The Electoral College is a type of procedure that comprises of the electors' selection. It is the meeting of the electors in which they will lead the choice of the President and the Vice President. The procedure also includes the electoral votes tallying by Congress. Some of the advantages of Electoral College are 1) minority groups, 2)two party system, 3)maintain division of powers, 4) assist in the maintenance of federal character in the nation, and 5) prevention of victory solely based on urban regions. With minority groups, advocates contend that minority groups and interest parties can have an incredible effect in influencing votes because of the winner take–all framework in the states. Numerous consider the Electoral College's negative...show more content...
Keeping up that our present two party systems gives the nation strength, with the two party systems. Maintaining division of powers, the Constitution was intended to isolated government into three diverse branches intended to give "checks and balances" and in addition consideration. Advocates contend that if a President chose straightforwardly he could affirm a national prominent command that would undermine the other government branches, and could possibly bring about oppression. Assisting in the maintenance of federal character in the nation, this system permits each of the states the flexibility to outline its own particular laws concerning voting and offers each the capacity to impact change. Individuals who support the Electoral College assert that the present system keeps an applicant/candidate from wining by concentrating exclusively on large amounts of populated zones. The hopeful must take a more extensive advance, with prevention of victory solely based on urban regions. A few of the disadvantages in Electoral Colleges are 1) States in bigger "swing" obtain the majority of attention, 2) Discourage voter turnout, and 3) Favoring the smaller and less populated states. States in bigger "swing" obtain the majority of
The Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College
Research suggests that the Electoral College system should be amended because it poorly illustrates democracy, is outdated and
Electoral College Reform
The voting process in America appears straightforward, but it is a very complex, complicated system. The Electoral College is America's current voting system. The Electoral College still serves its intended purpose, but with increasing political activity among Americans it has caused a need to reform this process. Research suggests that the Electoral College system should be amended because it poorly illustrates democracy, is outdated and the majority of Americans are in favor of abolishing the system.
Before one can pick apart the electoral college, one must understand the system....show more content...
America has been acknowledged as being one of the world's leading democracies, but to continue implementing the use of the Electoral College creates some distortion to that title. The out of date system does not accurately portray democracy. Theoretically, a democracy is government system that is ruled by the people. In reality, an individual's vote may not matter depending on the state they reside in. Robert Dahl, a Democratic Theorist stated, "every member must have an equal and effective opportunity to vote, and all votes must be counted as equal." Political equality is important to the distribution of power. Even if a person is wealthy and of power their vote should be counted the same as someone in poverty.
America pushes for equality but our votes aren't counted equally.
It has been 140 years since this system was introduced. The way of life has dramatically changed since 1877. Between both beliefs and technology
The Electoral College entirely eliminates third party candidates in the Presidential election.
In the event of a tie,
Majority vote losing
Sports team analogy
Maine and Nebraska
Candidates campaigning to all of america instead of the populous states. – Candidates should campaign in every state and if the electoral college was reformed candidates would have to campaign in every state because every vote would matter.
This is an outdated system that does not reflect democracy, and it violates the
Pros And Cons Of The Electoral College System
The Electoral College System Every four years, on the Tuesday of the first Monday of November, millions of U.S. citizens go out and vote for the next president. These votes are counted and recorded, but whoever wins by popular vote, does not necessarily mean that whoever wins, will automatically win presidency. The electoral college not only takes part, but it ultimately decides who the next president will be. The electoral college system is a political institution that has been in place for more than 200 years. This system was created during the Constitutional Convention to help create a fair way to elect the president without giving too much power to the government or individuals. Today, through past elections we can analyze how it works, its advantages, and its disadvantages.
When elections are held in November, each state holds an election for president, in which all eligible citizens may vote. Citizens vote for a ticket of candidates that includes a candidate for a president and one for vice president. The outcome of the vote determines a slate of electors who will make the actual choice for president and vice president in December. Each candidate running for President in each state, has his or her own group of electors. Political parties nominate electors at their state conventions. These electors are usually state–elected officials, party leaders of people with a strong affiliation with the residential candidates. Neither the constitution or federal election laws