But the Electoral College is worse than merely useless. Is Iran ready to build a nuclear bomb or not? Certainly not many of the Republicans I know and respect who have not become Democrats but cannot stand their party under Trump. On election night just like this year the election was too close to call. While not formally one of the national political institutions, political parties today are nonetheless major players in both national and state politics. Almost 50 percent of Americans polled want to abolish the Electoral College, according to data from an Economist /YouGov poll published on Wednesday. It is these officials who choose the President and Vice President of the United States. It arose from a convoluted compromise hammered out late in the Constitutional Convention, and the rise of political parties in the late 18th century and the spread of democratic ideals in the early 19th quickly undermined its rationales. Created to protect the slave states, it is championed now by conservatives who fear the power of America 's true majority. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. This not only brings federal attention to each state, but provides a fillip to Americas diversity. But these periodic crises could never have happened if we had elected our presidents by counting just the popular vote. (function () { (4 points) The federal government is responsible for raising taxes on businesses to, 14. Why is that a big deal? In presidential elections, the voters actually vote for a slate of Electors who have vowed to cast their ballots for their preferred President/Vice President ticket. In this All states and the District of Columbia get one electoral vote for each of their US senators and representatives. (04.02 MC) Which of the following is a key belief of a supply-side approach to economic and fiscal policy? Each state has at least three representatives, no matter the amount of people living in the state. In like manner, Thomas Neale also conveys the detail of how the electors are chosen and the electoral votes are established for each state. [6], Let the People Pick the President: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College [Book by Jesse Wegman reviewed in The New York Times by Josh Chafetz; March 17, 2020][7]. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a121f466c6bfdb9 Although this is very unlikely to happen, the fact that a candidate could win the elections with only 21.8 percent of the popular vote clearly shows that the majority of the people are not always represented in the Electoral College. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. DBQ packet, 1(Multiple Choice Worth 4 points) (04.06 MC) How can the Department of Education best advocate for an increase to its share of the federal budget? I have argued for decades that we need to get rid of the Electoral College. Let's get to 100! But we need bipartisan support in Congress, a constitutional amendment, and a majority of the states to agree. Steve Slavin - Nov 23, 2020, 2:52 pm. But Trump considers himself the winner this year. There are two reasons they want to abolish the Electoral College: One, of course, is Trump. The Electoral College was established by the framers of the Constitution as a last-minute deal, a gift to Southern states trying to protect slaveholders power and leverage the three-fifths compromise. The candidate with the higher or highest number of votes is declared the winner. (4 points) Libertarian Conservative A) No regulation Moderate regulation B) Government management of the, 5. Download the full version above. A national popular vote would have accentuated rather than moderated the zealous enthusiasms roiling the Democratic Party.. 6. Why should the Electoral College be abolished? The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". The Electoral College voting system goes against republicanism as it contradicts the belief that citizens have the ability to directly choose their leaders. should the electoral college be abolished answer key demomail@gmail.com. Abolish The Electoral College And Replace It With National Popular Vote, Please speak to a licensed financial professional, DAX Index is back above its 200-day average after surging, Palo Alto Networks On Track For 52-Week High. Will himself left the party for this, by Naomi Schaefer Riley, Opinion Contributor, Schumer, Jeffries ask Murdoch to stop Fox hosts lying about 2020 election, Eli Lilly caps insulin costs at $35 per month, Watch live: Garland testifies before Senate panel at oversight hearing, EPA to award $250 million in IRA funds to reduce climate pollution. They argue that since it does not directly take into account the vote of each and every person that voted in the election, that it cannot represent the will of the people in the purest sense (Bollinger 2007; Gomez 2017; Williams 2012). But does anyone still believe it is a great idea for our politics? This makes the candidates focus on swing states needs more than other states in order to win the election. (Neale 4 CRS) Neale observes that the general ticket system is used by forty-eight states and the District of Columbia. 0 . The electoral college started with the constitution of the united states, it cited how many electors each state is able to have. Therefore, they are not focusing on the needs of the people all over America which is going against what the founding fathers wanted. Thanks to Donald Trump, what was once the relic of our system is now an active threat to the future of our democracy. Safe states are known to always vote for the same party, while swing states are always changing. If the Electoral College doesnt produce a majority winner, the election of the president goes to the House of Representatives where each state casts a single vote. She also states that a Popular Vote would cause certain states and highly populated regions to have an unfair advantage in representation over the more rural areas in the presidential election. Seventy percent of Americans between the ages of 18-29 said that the president should be chosen through a popular vote model, while just 56 percent of those over the age of 65 agreed. Should The Electoral College Be Abolished? . For example, they created the Electoral College because news traveled slowly, so people weren't . On the other side of the debate are those who would keep the Electoral college in place. Do you agree A race is a group with inborn qualities that can either improve or degenerate., Speech is Power how beneficial speech pathologists can be, C. maculatus prefers smaller sized beans for oviposition. Presidential candidates wouldnt need to immerse themselves in local issues. The electoral "college" is an example. LET'S ABOLISH THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE Are the people smart enough to choose their own leader? After three disputed Presidential elections in just 20 years, it's time for Congress to abolish the Electoral College. Get Our Activist Investing Case Study! The framers biggest fear was the fear of power, and they did their upmost to limit and control the control and limit the power of . Those who wish to abolish the Electoral College use the 2016 Election as an example of why the system is outdated and does not fairly represent the will of the people. Right now, small states have no voice because they, like big states and medium-size states across the country, are not battleground states. . Having a majority determine the winner of our presidential elections can moderate both parties considerably. Find out what to do if this happens here. That is why it was written in the Constitution. Many rural communities feared that if the vote was counted through a popular vote system that they would equal representation as urban communities would have. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Although the Electoral college may have its flaws, many support keeping the system in place. Its as simple as that! We all know the answer. Most Americans, by a wide margin, believe the Electoral College should be abolished. var r = Math.floor(Math.random() * (9999 - 0 + 1) + 0); Will closed his piece by saying what I called a catastrophe can generate moderate mandates for parties that seek a broad consensus.. Neale states The Constitution gives each state a number of electors equal to the combined total of Senate membership (two for each state) and the House of Representatives delegation (currently ranging from one to 53, depending on population). Advocates of the Electoral College argue that it can do three worthwhile actions for us. When Americans vote for a President and Vice President, they are actually choosing presidential electors, known collectively as the Electoral College. In fact, if given the choice of either accepting his loss or preserving our democracy, which outcome would Trump choose? Instead, it's a product of the 12th Amendment - put in place after the 1800 contest between Jefferson and Burr . ValueWalk also contains archives of famous investors, and features many investor resource pages. Mr. Bidens opponents soon abandoned their campaigns. Wegman: I think that the most common reason is because one or both political parties have seen themselves as benefiting from it in some way. This hour -- the history of the electoral system and what should replace it. The Electoral College has elected the president and vice president of the United States since the nation's, beginnings. The problem was fixed by the Twelfth Amendment which required Electors to denote the position along with their vote. Furthermore, Neale gave a detailed description of the General Ticket system and other alternative systems that give the audience a full spectrum of the Electoral College process. Southern states were able to extend the three-fifths compromise, counting slaves in the presidents selection without openly parading the fact. Will closed his piece by saying what I called a catastrophe can generate moderate mandates for parties that seek a broad consensus., I will concede that the Electoral College might ensure the stability of the two party system. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. A More Perfect Constitution: 23 Proposals to Revitalize Our Constitution and Make America a Fairer Country. Although he has virtually no chance of succeeding, he could not care less that he was subverting our democratic form of government. That is how it works in every state election. It was compromise between the states and the people. All our essays are uploaded by volunteers. jo.id = 'FJVoiceFeed'; Yet this controversial system remains. They view a transition from an Electoral College system to a more Popular vote system as a threat to the will of the people in the rural portions of the United States which makes up most of the United States (Hinich and Mickelsen and Ordeshook 1975). It Disincentivizes Voting The majority of Americans do not live in swing states, they live in states that are safely either Democratic or Republican. EssaySauce.com is a free resource for students, providing thousands of example essays to help them complete their college and university coursework. The January 6 committee could have called on Congress to begin the process of amending the Constitution to abolish the Electoral College, while at the same time recognizing the difficulties . [5] And there is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an effort to get the states to agree to assign majority electoral votes to the winner of national popular election. Compare and contrast Sample's and McConnell's views about the Electoral College. 152 was a new, unique proposal of reform introduced in the 84th Congress. The framers at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 weren't so sure. Get the entire 10-part series on our in-depth study on activist investing in PDF. [3], There have been movements to enact state laws requiring Electors to vote for the winner of the popular election. In fact, the election of 2020 still isnt over even though Joe Biden received more than six million votes than Donald Trump, as well as 72 more electoral votes. The brightest students know that the best way to learn is by example! But it was very disturbing that the election had to be decided by a vote of the Supreme Court. For example, Alaska has very few citizens and still gets three votes. [14] The Electoral College is the devil we know, wrote Yale constitutional scholar Akhil Reed Amar. They view the Popular vote as a way to lessen the power of the people in rural areas, and make the focus of elections and political campaigns centered around the urban and city regions of each state. The term "college" signifies the original intent that it was to be made up of "political wise men." The Electoral College was also the result of a couple of compromises. The one constant in the history of voting rights in America, Harvard Kennedy School Professor Alex Keyssar says, is that no law has ever been passed to restrict the voting rights of upper-middle-class white men. Abolish Electoral College Essay. The Electoral College is a antiquated voting system, slipped into the U.S. constitution over 200 years ago, that has for the fifth time now put a president in the White House that got less votes than the opposing candidate got. I am not alone in holding. Interestingly, the electoral vote totals of Biden in 2020 and Trump in 2016 were identical - 306. The Electoral College is also essential to our nations political cohesiveness. Liberty Mason started this petition to United States Supreme Court and 2 others Abolish the Electoral College I want to keep this short and simple as possible. We saw this happen in the 2016 election with Donald J. Trump losing the Popular vote but won the Electoral vote and thus the 2016 election. I am a fan of rural Americans and remain devoted to the success of our farmers and heartland. Professor of History and Social Policy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Yes. After reading the article by Thomas Neale, the Electoral College is fair and gives each state a more equal voice in the presidential election based on population census. Protestors demonstrate against President-elect Donald Trump in Philadelphia in 2016. Should Electoral College Be Abolished. We won't send you spam. There would be numerous benefits to abolishing the Electoral College. In 2000, and again in 2020, the outcomes of elections resulted in Constitutional crises. This has happened five times: John Quincy Adams in 1824, Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876, Benjamin Harrison in 1888, George W. Bush in 2000, and Donald J. Trump in 2016. The method was ultimately settled in the last days by the 11-member Brearly Committee, which proposed election by special Electors chosen by the state legislatures. The result is that a small number of voters in certain battleground states become kingmakers. The United States, Presidential elections provide a level of legitimacy to each new administration by following the will of the people (Clayton 2007; Koza 2016). But Id also say that its harder than we think to say that definitively in advance of an election. However, despite its faults, as a system is has a foundation conducive to reform rather than abolition. (Neale 2 CRS) Basically, Neale is saying the Electoral College provides additional leverage to states that have a smaller population. Election by national popular vote would dispense with the need for continental diversification. With the Electoral College, the value of a vote depends on what state a person lives in. . Trump proved in 2016 that you could secure the presidential election by hurling contempt at our cities and blue states, mocking urban ethnic and racial diversity, dividing the country, and losing the popular vote. The Green New Deal the electoral college should be abolished jessica ponik civics block march 19, 2019 couple of years after the united states was established, Skip to document. Each state gets their total number of votes decided based on the population of the state plus two guaranteed senators. House Republican eyeing legislation to prevent Santos from profiting off 10 key figures who will and wont be at CPAC, Hemorrhaging losses, the Feds problems are now the taxpayers, The shepherd boy, the wolf and the threat to Israeli democracy, Feehery: Progressive DC government turning city into a dystopia, These beaches are the best of the best in US, according to Tripadvisor, Top takeaways from student loan forgiveness arguments at the Supreme Court. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Only Nebraska and Maine allocate the electoral votes proportionately. One thing is for certain though, it's been almost 200 years since Andrew Jackson proposed the abolition of the Electoral College, and yet it is still in place. If you use part of this page in your own work, you need to provide a citation, as follows: Essay Sauce, Should we abolish the Electoral College?. This makes the candidates focus on swing states needs more than other states in order to win the election. Save it to your . The College delivers a Chief Executive vetted not just by the people of every state but also by their state governments. Clarence Thomas was appointed by the Bush brothers father, President George H.W. It focuses on the concept of "voting power," the ability of an individual to influence the outcome of an election, within the political context of the controversial 2000 and 2004 elections and. Most states however use oaths and penalties to bind them. We must abolish the electoral college and replace it with the national popular vote. Now, with an aspiring autocrat refusing to give up his presidency even after a clear-cut electoral defeat, our democratic form of government is being degraded, if not entirely destroyed. A voter in Wyoming has nearly four times more influence than a voter in California. Alex Keyssar is Matthew W. Sterling Jr. * This essay may have been previously published on Essay.uk.com at an earlier date. Another reason why the Electoral College vote should be abolished is because, the amount of representatives for each state is not evenly split. (2007). Clinton, who clearly despised Trump, graciously conceded the election on Election Night. They think it antiquated, irrational and undemocratic and argue for scrapping it in favor of a national popular vote. Have its flaws, many support keeping the system in place the relic of our farmers and heartland in! Who would keep the Electoral College voting system goes against republicanism as contradicts... 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