American Presidency: The Electoral College
use in-text citation and include a works cited list. Please be sure to use proper citation formatting. each response must be at least 2 pages
answer these 2 questions
Be sure to discuss any opposing viewpoints in the literature.
Don’t be afraid to be critical of the literature.
Have a clear organization for your answer. Have a clear introduction and thesis statement. Give a roadmap in your introduction. Use paragraphs, headings, subheadings, etc.
1.The Electoral College is probably the most misunderstood element of the American political system. How was the Electoral College developed, and how has it changed? Has the Electoral College produced good results? Is the electoral college still a good system, or should it be reformed, or replaced? Why?
2. Some scholars argue that presidential character is a major factor in determining the success of a president. Others argue that experience, background, and skills are more important. Still others argue that the national context is most important. What do you think is the most important factor in understanding presidential success? Why?
must use these 2 sources
Pika, Joseph A. and John Anthony Maltese. 2014. The Politics of the Presidency, Revised 8th ed.Thousand Oaks, CA: CQ Press.
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Ellis, Richard J. and Michael Nelson. 2015.Debating the Presidency: Conflicting Perspectives on the American Executive, 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: CQ Press
American Presidency
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The Electoral College
The importance of the Electoral College to the American political landscape cannot be overemphasized. Since the Constitutional Convention that was held by the United States in 1787, the Electoral College has slowly taken shape over the years to the current College as we know it today. The College has consistently proven to be a key element in the conduction of election in the USA, as evidenced by the fact that presidential candidates pay the most attention to capturing the Electoral College votes.[Edwards, George C. 2011. Why the Electoral College Is Bad for America. Yale University Press.]
Background
The Electoral College was proposed on the basis of the Virginia Plan, as espoused by the Virginia delegation. This delegation sought to establish a different mode of electing the President of the United States. The proposal sought to have the President of the United States elected by Congress, through a group of individuals appointed within the states. However, this mode proved to be unpopular, and a review resulted in the decision that the president would be elected through Congress by a number of individuals selected within the states, and equal to the number of representatives that the state has. This has been the method that has been applied in the election of the President of the United States through the years. The Electoral College has been the cornerstone of Presidential election in the USA, and has, in some instances, resulted in the election of the President and Vice President from different sides of the political divide.[Bennett, Robert W. 2006. Taming the electoral college. Stanford, Calif: Stanford Law and Politics.] [Pika, Joseph A. and John Anthony Maltese. 2014. The Politics of the Presidency, Revised 8th ed.Thousand Oaks, CA: CQ Press.]
Changes
The Electoral College has been severally revised to fine tune the process of Presidential and Vice Presidential elections. Initially, the sitting of the Electoral College resulted in every elector casting a single ballot. While this was what was actually intended, it resulted in a looming ambiguity, seeing that the ballot did not specify who was chosen as the President and the Vice President. This was especially evidenced in the elections of 1800, where Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr were involved in the confusion. The result was the election of Jefferson through a ‘tie-breaker’ vote in his favor from Alexander Hamilton. In 1803, the Twelfth Amendment was passed, prescribing the use of separate ballots for the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates. This eliminated the possibility of any further confusion during the Presidential and Vice Presidential elections in the future. In 1866, the Fourteenth Amendment was also passed. This Amendment denies the people of a state the right to vote, based on the reduction of the State’s representation in the House of Representatives.[Ibid.] [Shea, Therese. 2007. America's Electoral College: choosing the President, comparing and analyzing charts, graphs, and tables. New York: Rosen Pub. Group's PowerKids Press.]
Results
The Electoral College has been essential to the election process, and this has been manifested many times over the years. Many of the times, both the President and Vice President have been elected from the same political divide, but there are instances where the Electoral College has gone against the grain and elected the holders of both offices from different political factions. More recently, this has been the case, with even the 2012 Presidential elections being a clear example. The fact that the President is elected by the Electoral College in a sense outweighs public opinion. For instance, Governor Mitt Romney won the popular vote in the 2012 Presidential elections, but lost on the Electoral College vote to Barack Obama. This was evidence of the fact that it is actually the Electoral College that has the final say on the election of the President and his deputy. I believe, however, that the Electoral College would best be replaced. This is because this system eliminates the will of the masses in its own sense. This, I believe, is a distortion of democracy in every sense of the word. What good is it to hol...