Pros of the Electoral College
Should America Reject the Electoral College and Go to a Popular Vote? The American way of electing the highest office in our country is hard to explain on a good day to a fellow American, let alone to a non-American. The question that often follows an explanation of the Electoral College is something like: why doesn’t the United States just adopt a popular vote? Through the course of this paper I will talk about first the history of the Electoral College. Secondly, I will discuss the negatives of the Electoral College. Finally I will look at the possible advantages of switching to a popular vote. Let’s take a half step into the past and learn how we got the Electoral College in the first place. 1787 was the year of the constitutional convention. I won’t walk through history too much here other than to say that the men who gathered were representing both large and small states and not looking to diminish their individual state powers. These men were also a little hit-shy from the fight for independence. Monarchs were bad, so giving too much power to anyone or any one state seemed like a bad idea. The country looked much different then. We had fewer American citizens at the time than currently live in New York City. Elections, well government as a whole, were for the wealthy land owning white men of the country.
The framers needed a way of choosing the highest elected official that would make the most sense for their time and place. It was not practical or really possible for a candidate to run a national campaign for a popular vote. It is also said that running for office was not what a gentleman does; rather the office is running for him (Kimberling, 1992). If the framers gave the power directly to congress it would be tipping the scales of balance between the legislative branch and the executive branch. Allowing states to choose a candidate would tend to have too many people voting for their local guy and therefore no majority could be met. It was decided
The framers needed a way of choosing the highest elected official that would make the most sense for their time and place. It was not practical or really possible for a candidate to run a national campaign for a popular vote. It is also said that running for office was not what a gentleman does; rather the office is running for him (Kimberling, 1992). If the framers gave the power directly to congress it would be tipping the scales of balance between the legislative branch and the executive branch. Allowing states to choose a candidate would tend to have too many people voting for their local guy and therefore no majority could be met. It was decided
Cited: Alexander, R. M. (2012, October 26). Rogue electors threaten elections ' integrity. Retrieved from CNN Opinion: http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/22/opinion/alexander-electors Bassetti, V Farlex. (2013). Legal Dictionary. Retrieved from The Free Dictionary: http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/One+man,+one+vote History.Com Kimberling, W. C. (1992, May). Electoral College. Retrieved from FEC: http://www.fec.gov/pdf/eleccoll.pdf McBride, A Nonprofit Vote. (2012). Voter Turn Out Factors. Retrieved from Nonprofit Vote - Engaging America 's Nonprofit 's in Voting and Elections: http://www.nonprofitvote.org/voter-turnout-factors.html The Center for Voting and Democracy Whitaker, L. P. (2004, November 5). The Electoral College: An Overview and Analysis of. Retrieved from CRS Report for Congress: http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/38002.pdf