Direct Vote Vs Electoral College Essay

Some people believe there is only one-way people vote for elections, but there are actually two main ways. These two ways are called electoral college and a direct vote. In the electoral college, a body of people cast votes for election. In a direct vote, voters directly cast ballots for the person/group they want to be elected. Although its more complicated, electoral college is more effective than a direct vote as it protects minorities and has a two-party system.

Unlike a direct vote, electoral college protects minorities making it superior. In 'In Defense of the Electoral College', Amel Ahmed states, "The Electoral College is designed to protect minority interests in a variety of forms, whether economic, ideological, or racial." These interests are not protected with a direct vote, where the candidates would target majorities for the greatest number of votes. Ahmed also writes, "without the Electoral College, one could win the presidency with a few key states." If we used a direct vote, the focus of candidates would be on states with larger populations and states made up of more rural areas would be generally ignored. This conveys electoral college is favorable to a direct vote.

In 'Political Parties: The American Two-Party System', the author writes, "Two-party systems are more stable than multiparty systems." Since a direct vote uses a multiparty system, it can become very unstable. The author states, "The two parties must appeal to the middle to win elections, so the parties tend to be more moderate." This causes two-party systems tend to be more stable. The author also writes, "Voters have only to decide between two parties. This makes voting with the electoral college much easier." All of these are advantages to the two-party system which a direct vote doesn't