Electoral College Federalism

The U.S. Electoral College, like many other features of our American Constitution and government, follows the concept of dividing power among levels of government, federalism. American federalism is the motif upon which many of our government’s functions are based and, ideally, distributes power equally between the upper and lower levels of our governmental system. In the structure of Congress, for example, one house stems from the power of the people and the other derives power from the individual states. The House of Representatives allows larger populations to have more representation, and the Senate allots each state an equal stake in decision-making. This compromise gives a nod to the idea of direct democracy and a proportional representation

This balancing act has intricately-designed backup plans and safety valves that keep any one level of government from gaining more power than is good for it. To abolish the Electoral College would dispose of some issues, but a direct vote for President carries problems of its own. Calls for a popular vote for president invite democratic principles that seem wonderful, but, untempered, are dangerous and destructive to free societies. Such movements to amend our Constitution threaten to chip away at the protections put in place to preserve our nation. Demands to reduce our governmental functions to purely democratic ones eerily resemble the mob behavior that would inevitably ensue should the Constitution be changed in favor of senseless ramblings about democracy. As Americans, we must always remember that majority rule is always capable of taking away rights from a minority. Our country is not a direct democracy; it should not take on the qualities of one. Those who question whether it is finally time in America’s history to change its fundamental system of federalism, its revolutionary concept of functional democracy, and its safeguards against tyranny do not understand that the Electoral College is among many Constitutional provisions that keep the political processes of America free from forces that would destabilize American democracy and threaten the security of our nation. Therefore, I stand firmly resolved that the electoral system established by the U.S. Constitution for the election of the President ought to remain