A population proportionate number of electoral delegates just like the house of representatives are selected by popular vote, with some variation of state rules regarding allocation. The fly over states would have little weight or influence in electing our presidents. The national archives, which also receives a copy of each states electors ballots, defines the electoral college as being not an institution but rather a process. The electoral college was formed as part of the great compromise that included the 2 chambers of congress being the house and the senate in which each states number of electors are determined by that states house and senate seats that are determined by the state. The compact is a statebased approach that preserves the electoral college, state control. The solution, or compromise, was to create two chambers in congress, the house with representation roughly proportional to the population of each state, and the senate where each state got exactly two representatives, irrespective of size or population.
This book, as professor levinson proudly notes, is unusual for several reasons. In the house of representatives, each state had a number of members in proportion to its population, while in the senate, each state was represented by two members. Connecting the electoral college to slavery would, however unintended, appear to be a pov push. The electors pick the president and vice president. The electoral college came out of a compromise in 1787, and as a result, american citizens have indirectly elected the president ever since. Nov 05, 2012 the electoral college continues the great compromise by giving each state a voice in the election of a president equal to the numbers of representatives and senators that state has. The electoral college was designed to protect liberty. A group selected by the states to elect the president and the vicepresident, in which each states number of electors is equal to the number of its senators and representatives in congress. Dec 12, 2018 we should abolish the senate and the electoral college because theyre undemocratic, despite the constitutional hurdles of doing so. Explain how the electoral college was a compromise. Sep 29, 2012 the compromise became part of the second article of the constitution, although the words electoral college are not included. The electoral college was part of the great compromise. Electoral college, the system by which the president and vice president of the united states are chosen.
Further complicating the task was a deeprooted distrust of executive power. Slavery, democracy, and the racialized roots of the. Slave states had a smaller ratio of voters to the total population, but they had the three fifths compromise which took slaves into account in determining the number of representatives each slaves counted a 35 of a personand yeah thats disturb. The mysteries of the american electoral college rand. The united states presidential election of 1876 was one of the most disputed presidential elections in american history. Supreme court voided the missouri compromise 1820, thus making slavery legal in all u. Electoral college compromise each state is allocated a number of electors equal to the number of its us senators always two plus the number of its us representatives which may change each decade according to the size of each states population as determined in the census. This has been viewed well over a million times and helped many people finally understand the electoral college. The debate over the electoral college, rekindled by the 2016 election, includes a falsehood usually peddled by opponents of the college. Meet the hamilton electors hoping for an electoral college revolt. Was the electoral college a compromise to protect the.
The electoral college is comprised of 538 electors, which equals the 435 representatives, 100 senators and three electors given to the district of columbia. If it were pure popular vote, the voice of most of the states would not be heard. The electoral college and the national archives national. Electoral college foes continue push to make popular vote. Therefor he offers the proportional allocation as a compromise because it preserves the current system where democrats consistently win the vote but lose in the electoral college. Even if readers do not agree with the book s thesis, they will nevertheless find interesting historical tidbits about the electoral college. My objection is to your desire to attribute that greater influence to the electoral college. A number of states want to abolish the electoral college in favor of the popular vote. United states electoral collegearchive 2 wikipedia. John kasich would face huge obstacles from the electoral college if he decides to make an independent run in 2020.
The necessity of political parties and the importance of. Several scholars justify the electoral college as a compromise designed to. Why we need the electoral college reflection and choice. A relic of the nineteenth century, the divergence between the electoral vote and the popular vote was. The delegates to the 1787 constitutional convention had a variety of reasons for settling on the electoral college format, but.
C the number of electors a state has corresponds with the number of house and. Dispatchsponsored imagination library provides a free book each month to lowndes county children under the age of 5. It has its drawbacks, but it is not as egregious as push polling one of the sleaziest of political dirty. The constitution, in article 2, section 1, provides. Only on five occasions has a president won the electoral college while losing the popular vote. Maeser distinguished faculty lecture, was given at byu on may 19, 2015, by dr. The electoral college is an intermediary between the vote of the people and the election of the president of the united states. Dec 24, 2016 more states consider circumventing the electoral college. Electoral college, the author examines the compromises and consequences. Actually, the electoral college was a proslavery ploy. List of books and articles about electoral college. Trump won in 2016 with shockingly narrow victories in.
The committee finally produced a compromise outlined in article ii. The electoral college today is not what the founding fathers envisioned, but replacing it with a national popular vote is not the answer. It also offers a way to work toward popular election of the president without a constitutional amendment. If the electoral college simply removes its winnertakeall requirements, it preserves the central compromise of american politics, dating back to the creation of the u. Democrats have won the popular vote in 6 of the last 7 presidential races and given the advantages conferred by incumbency would surely have won 7 of 7 had gore had. The united states electoral college is a deliberative body through which the us president is elected to office. Dec 17, 2016 the case for keeping the electoral college. National popular vote interstate compact wikipedia. Blue dot for obama prompts red nebraska to revisit. A compromise on january 12, 2017 daniel ludlam in opinion in light of the 2016 presidential election, voters across the political spectrum have debated the usefulness of the electoral college. According to article ii, section 1, clause 2 of the. Jun, 2018 khan academy has been translated into dozens of languages, and 15 million people around the globe learn on khan academy every month.
As a 501c3 nonprofit organization, we would love your help. Again questions are being raised about why the framers came up with scheme. A key reason the founders wanted the electoral college. In reading your article the reasons for the electoral college, feb. The electoral college, the number of senators each state receives, and the 35ths compromise are all part of the same effort by southern states during the 1787 philadelphia constitutional convention. Opponents of the electoral college argue that it can result in different candidates winning the popular and electoral vote which occurred in two of the five presidential elections from 2000 to 2016. There is some irony in the push to abolish the electoral college while lamenting the difficulty of doing so. A system born of compromise at the time of the philadelphia convention, no other country in the world directly elected its. Jesse wegmans let the people pick the president is a readable account of how the electoral college distorts our political system. Depending on how one analyzes that compromise, it either reduced or increased the political power of the slave states.
The electoral college isnt just brilliant because it slightly tilts it in favor of less populous states but because it prevents any few isolated regions gaining group think and leveraging it full throttle. A debut author makes the case for getting rid of the electoral college in favor of a. The college s members come from all 50 states and washington, d. The framers created the electoral college to protect small states. Dec 19, 2016 the electoral college is poised to pick trump, despite push to dump him german postwar politicians were horrified by the possibility of another fascist populist gaining widespread support among. As blue states push to abolish electoral college, critics.
The electoral college is a body of electors established by the united states constitution, which forms every four years for the sole purpose of electing the president and vice president of the united states. For most americans, election day marks the end of the presidential selection process. Among the party stalwarts who voted to abolish it in 1969 were gerald ford, george h. This complex, rather odd institution was another compromise at the constitutional convention, a means to moderate the passions of the public and to allow smaller states a greater say in the selection of the president. It takes a minimum of 11 states to win the white house, thanks to the electoral college. Baca and chiafalo are not pushing for republican electors to all switch their. An example of this appears in an answer to a quora question. Even though i know better, i got it into my head that electors were selected by representative districts plus two statewide like the senators. Each state is allocated a number of electors equal to the number of its u. But we should be clear about its disreputable origins.
Agreement among the states to elect the president by national. The electoral college and the national archives press release wednesday, october 22, 2008. This book is brought to you for free and open access by the the digital press at the. Nov 04, 2012 im doing hw and i basically finished the paper but i dont know the answer to this question and i gotta make an extended response about the two questions given to me and i tried looking it up but i got no answer. At the time of the philadelphia convention, no other country in the world directly elected its chief executive, so the delegates were wading into uncharted territory.
Supporters say it will bring fairness to national elections, while critics warn it could lead to violence. Electoral college compromise before i diss anyone regarding hs civics, i really should double check the wiring in my nearly seventy year old brain. Karl, who has been covering trump for decades and knows which buttons to push. The compromise between the larger and smaller states gave us the electoral college. In his new book this month, former democratic representative john dingell john dingell the memo. More states consider circumventing the electoral college. Five myths about the electoral college the washington post.
Compromise between the parties has been and will remain vital to sustaining our twohundredyearlong experiment with self government. House seat hes held since 1955, the seat he inherited from his father, john dingell, sr. Nov 24, 2016 slave states had a smaller ratio of voters to the total population, but they had the three fifths compromise which took slaves into account in determining the number of representatives each slaves counted a 35 of a personand yeah thats disturb. Dave grohl performing with the foo fighters in germany in 2015. In essence the electoral college addresses that same issue.
That fact alone doesnt mean it ought to be scrapped. Republicans did not always defend the electoral college. Using 2015 census estimates of state population, the same study found. The electoral college is flawed and should be reformed.
The current workings of the electoral college are the result of both design and experience. Electoral college a group selected by the states to elect the president and the vicepresident, in which each states number of electors is equal to the number of its senators and representatives in congress. The national popular vote interstate compact npvic is an agreement among a group of u. Whats behind push for electoral college to defy trump. So insignificant had the electoral college become by 2000 that cbs news had to remind people on the eve of the election that the electoral college wasnt an institution of higher learning but the means by which the president is chosen. Electoral college the electoral college was a compromise in order to pick a president between the congresss vote and the citizens vote. His discussion of the electoral college is a fine example of his compressive clarity. Donald trump, hillary clinton, joe biden, and a disrupted.
Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of senators and representatives to which the state may be entitled in the congress. Khan academy has been translated into dozens of languages, and 15 million people around the globe learn on khan academy every month. List of books and articles about electoral college online. While democrats are the ones currently pushing for change, over the years. Meet the hamilton electors campaigning for an electoral. Which election method is more reasonable and fair, the electoral college or popular vote. Its a compromise institution for a government built on compromise. The founding fathers had to compromise when it came to devising a system to elect the president. The compact would simply change the electoral college from an institution that reflects the voters statebystate choices or, in the case of maine and nebraska, districtwide choices into a. Electoral collegethe great compromise theproblematicmy2cents.
The electoral college was created, in part, as a compromise to give slaveholders more power. Following on the heels of the dred scott decision of 1857, in which the u. Trump faces ugly electoral college map as coronavirus. It was devised by the framers of the united states constitution to provide a method of election that was feasible, desirable, and consistent with a republican form of government. Jan 05, 2019 well take a look at that, but first its important to understand the genesis of the electoral college. Additional information is available in the book every vote equal. The threefifths compromise, not the electoral college, gave the slaveholding states the greater influence. Nov 06, 2016 he said the electoral colleges threefifths clause enabled thomas jefferson, who owned more than a hundred slaves, to beat out in 1800 john adams, who was opposed to slavery, since the south.
You can read my answer to this question in my post of 41217. Slavery, democracy, and the racialized roots of the electoral. December 6, 2016 by chris hammons in politics tags. To show how rigged it is, examine the difference between wyoming and washington. Representatives which may change each decade according to the size of each states population as determined. Abolish the united states senate and, he says, get rid of the electoral college while you are at it. The compromise of 1850 shows how in american history that confluence of hatred, racism, political power and economic gain come together to create the perfect storm of oppression. Electoral college, thereby gaining a greater say for the southern states in who.
Dec 03, 2016 the electoral college was formed as part of the great compromise that included the 2 chambers of congress being the house and the senate in which each states number of electors are determined by that states house and senate seats that are determined by the state. Apr 02, 2019 dispatchsponsored imagination library provides a free book each month to lowndes county children under the age of 5. The evolution of the electoral college is, in one sense, only a small part of the story of the transformation of the fundamental principle. The tyranny of the minority, from iowa caucus to electoral. The last serious push for reform to the electoral college occurred just after the. What two arguments resulted in the electoral college. The electoral college was an important part of their attempt to limit the influence of democracy on american government. Quantifying a candidates advantage in the electoral college. Im doing hw and i basically finished the paper but i dont know the answer to this question and i gotta make an extended response about the two questions given to me and i tried looking it up but i got no answer. One would expect the us electoral college to be under more widespread attack after it delivered a second us president with a clear minority of the national vote in two out of the past five national elections. The electoral college continues the great compromise by giving each state a voice in the election of a president equal to the numbers of representatives and senators that state has.
This is no time to destroy great foundation of our. Nov 02, 2015 many forces shape the conduct of presidential elections. During the 2000 presidential election, the faults of the system were epitomized by ballot recounts, lawsuits, and supreme court decisions. There is also a push to change the electoral college process on a statebystate level. So this year, a longstanding proposal to change the states electoral college system to winnertakeall may finally reach the republican governors desk, amid a renewed push by conservative. At the national archives, it is only the beginning. Stick to outdoor recreation and environmental issues please. A compromise never meant to last for the fifth time the electoral college, the constitutional compromise principally forged to get slaveholder states to sign the constitution, elected the candidate with fewer actual. Background of the electoral college civis libertas. No ones mind will be changed by karls book, but its a valuable report from. The 35 clause was a compromise that indirectly affected the number of electors under the electoral college, but which had nothing to do with the college. We are not alone in this, such has been the case in many other cultures and in many other nations for millennia and continue to be today. Instead, they suggest a compromise candidatea republican they find less.
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