The Establishment of the Electoral College Essay - 1095 Words

The Electoral College is the system established by the Founding Fathers to select the President of the United States. It is important that Americans have a fundamental knowledge of this system, and the obstacles overcame in its development. There were many obstacles faced by the Founding Fathers while constructing the government. America was comprised of 13 states that wanted to protect their individual rights and leery of a strong centralized government. The nation’s population lay across a vast area with limited communication capabilities. In addition, the Founders believed that a true gentleman should not campaign for office. â€Å"The office should seek the man, the man should not seek the office† was the saying. They challenged themselves†¦show more content†¦The possibility also existed of the each state legislature voting for only one of their states â€Å"favorite sons†. This could lead to no single candidate winning a majority, thus no president selected. Finally, an indirect election of the president through a College of Electors was proposed. The original idea was to have the most informed individuals from each state select the president. They were to base their decision solely on merit without regard to state of origin or political party of the candidates. The elector system was voted down twice, once as the electors to be chosen by each state legislature and the other as the electors to be chosen by direct vote. It passed under a compromise that granted the individual states the power to decide how to choose their electors(Peirce 44). nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Initially, different states adopted different methods for choosing their electors. Some states decided to have the state legislatures select the electors. Other states chose the district system, where the people of each congressional district select the electors. States also used the general ticket system where the winner of the popular vote for that state received all of the electoral votes(Glennon 12). Due to problems associated with the other systems, the general ticket system emerged as the dominating method for elector selection(Glennon 13). Today, all states choose their electors by the generalShow MoreRelatedThe Electoral College Is A System886 Words   |  4 PagesThe Electoral College is a system that the founding fathers established to allow people to vote indirectly for the president. The public does not directly vote for the president and his or her running mate, but intern votes for a representative that has pledged to vote for a certain candida te. Once the electoral votes have been cast, the majority winner wins the presidency. Each state gets a certain number of electoral votes, there is a total of 538 electoral votes, and a majority of 270 votesRead MoreThe Importance Of The Electoral College System700 Words   |  3 PagesImportance of the Electoral College System Since its establishment the electoral college has always come under fire for the way it executes the election process in the United States. Many people believe that a direct popular vote is the best way to elect president and vice president, rather than the indirect election process used now. Because of this conflict, the question of whether or not the electoral college should be abolished continues to be a heated debate, especially after the most recentRead MoreWhat Is The Electoral College?846 Words   |  4 Pages What is the electoral college? For those of us who are just starting out to vote and for the ones that just don’t pay attention to how elections work, which is most of us. You will be surprised to know that you as a voter don’t vote for the President or Vice-President directly. At the polls, voters choose which candidate receives their state’s electors. Then, those electors are the ones that vote directly for President. The electoral college was es tablished in 1787 and has been used ever since.Read More Electoral College Essay1075 Words   |  5 PagesElectoral College A major conflict concerning the electoral college lingers in America. The Constitutional Convention created the college in 1789 in hopes that it would be an adequate system (MacBride 29). The electoral college consists of senators and representatives who cast their votes for the state they represent. Those who feel that the college should remain as it is believe that the American people are too uninformed about election issues to vote. The argument for the modificationRead MoreThe State Of The Electoral College1077 Words   |  5 Pagespresident should be elected. The Founders chose the Electoral College—which incorporates democracy, federalism, and republicanism—for presidential selection, because it provided for the best balance of power. The Electoral College was the product of no small amount of debate during the Constitutional Convention; this system of indirect election has had lasting positive political implications in contemporary American government. The Electoral College, not unlike other systems of electing a PresidentRead MoreHow Democratic Is The U.s. Constitution?970 Words   |  4 Pagesspecifically the Electoral College. The Legislative Branch is undemocratic in the Senatorial and House of Representative representation of the states. Lastly, the Judicial Branch is undemocratic due to its power of Judicial Review and the appointment process of new judges. Nev ertheless, despite these features, I do not believe the U.S. Constitution should be truly classified as an undemocratic government. Firstly, the Executive Branch is undemocratic due to the establishment of the Electoral College. BecauseRead MoreThe Electoral And Electoral College1017 Words   |  5 Pagestoday as the Electoral College is one that has been in place in our country for over 100 years. The Electoral College is a system that helps determine who is elected as President and Vice President during major elections. The Electoral College is the primary source of determining who is elected. This system although having withheld through the times and stayed in place is not effective to me, and can lead to unfair elections in the eyes of some American People. The Electoral College gained its originsRead MoreThe Presidential Election Day Falls1290 Words   |  6 PagesMonday in November every four years in the United States. However, when Election Day is over the people are not who have done the electing. In the United States, citizens elect the president not by a popular vote but through the Electoral College. The Electoral College is comprised of five hundred fifty-three electors. There is one elector for every state senator and every member of the House of Representatives per state as well as three electors from Washington, DC. (Khan 2014) The politicalRead MoreVoting and the Electoral Collegue1046 Words   |  4 Pagesreasons people feel as though their votes do not count are the Electoral College interference in voting, and the two-party system diminishing many of the values of the individual. In essence the only sensible way to increase voter turnout and political involvement from American citizens is to diminish both the po wer of the Electoral College, and the long-standing establishment of the two party system. In the Constitution the Electoral College was established as a process to mediate the election of theRead MoreEstablishment Republicans Are Not Sniggering808 Words   |  4 PagesEstablishment Republicans are not sniggering at Donald Trump’s antics anymore, especially as he threatens to go solo in November if party insiders scheme to deny him the nomination. Echoes of similarly irate conservative Teddy Roosevelt and his â€Å"Bull Moose† party sinking the Republican (GOP) national campaign in 1912 get louder every time Trump wins a primary state. After the real estate mogul announced his candidacy in June last year, party leaders contentedly sat back in the peanut gallery ridiculing