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direct democracy v representative democracy
problems with electoral college system
the united states electoral system
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The United States' System of Government
In theory, the United States became a democracy when we signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. This theory is not true. The textbook defines a democracy as a system of government in which ultimate political authority is vested in the people, of course you know that this is just not so. Our system of representation, often times, fails us. Quite often, the people who represent us in our state, local, and federal governments make decisions without much regard for the desires of the American citizenry.
Take for instance, the recent turmoil over the presidential election ended in a failed attempt to select a president based on the people's choice. This outdated system of electing a president in our country's government isn't right and we need to get rid of it.
It was quite apparent that the American people voted to have Vice President Al Gore as our president. He won the nations popular vote. However, our constitution provides for an Electoral College in Article II, Section I. This body of electorates has the final say. The final voice was not that of the people but that of our government. Many don't understand how the Electoral College works. For those of us who don't know how the Electoral College works allow me to explain. The Electoral College is made up of electors. The number of electors equals the number of each states representatives in both houses of Congress. These electors vote on whom will be our next President and Vice President based on the popular vote of that state. If the state votes mostly republican then the states whole "electoral" vote is cast in favor of the Republican candidate.
This is very wrong. Why do we still need this system of voting? I don't want a committee of people to decide the vote of an entire state of people. I don't want my vote reinterpreted as one vote for an entire state. That is really what is going on and will continue to go on unless the Electoral College is abolished. Voting is an obligation of citizenship. We will continue to vote and if it doesn't vote in your favor then your vote will be changed. This is why I think that each vote should be counted equally and accurately. The nation was at a stand still while the votes in Florida were counted and in the process of a recount.
There's something else troubling about the way we elect presidents--something beyond the personal attacks, the derelict voters and the influence of big money.
The fact that the popular vote holds no power to whom becomes president shows that only some of the people have the power. This seems like a sign that our own government doesn’t have faith in the population to make an educated decision on who should become president. The way smaller states votes are more important than bigger states, shows that states are still not equal in power. The way to win the presidency is more of a strategy than having the ideas to be elected. An example of this is how the electoral college elected George Bush when Al Gore won the popular vote. George Bush is said to be one of the United States worst presidents and was elected through a thought to be flawed system. I also feel as though corruption plays a role in the electoral college compared to the popular vote being authentic. I think this should be replaced with a system of electronic voting that could accurately and clearly show who the majority of the population voted for. But I also think that some sort of requirements to vote should be enacted. Education plays a big role in politics and I feel as though there are people who just vote to be voting with no kind of background knowledge. As bad as it sounds I feel like it could narrow a better decision being made than smaller, less developed states being “mind controlled” into voting for
The Electoral College system should be scrapped and be replaced with popular vote because it is unfair. By abolishing the Electoral College and replacing it with popular vote, it would represent citizens equally, it would allow citizens to elect their president just as they elect their governors and senators, and it would motivate and encourage citizens to participate in voting.
The Electoral College is an outdated and unrealistic arrangement that caters to eighteenth century federalist America in a way that is detrimental to modern democracy. The electoral college gives too much power to the government, overlooks equal representation, and creates loopholes that do not serve to help America thrive.
Matthew Green, a writer for KQED learning, said we should try elections “decided state by state… it’s a winner-take-all system… the candidate who receives the most popular… votes in each state gets all of the electors from his/her party. The other candidates in the race… get no electors from that state at all,” (Green 4). This is just one example out of the endless amount of alternatives to the electoral college system. We should change the way we elect the president because with the electoral college system, it “completely blocks out 3rd parties,” ignores the people’s vote on who should be the president and their “voice”, and it “undemocratic,” (Should the US adopt a different method of electing its President? 1-4). The government should start thinking of alternatives to the electoral college system today rather than
In fact, the Constitution contains provisions for direct and indirect election of the different parts of the legislature and the executive, based on overlapping but distinct electorates (Muller 1251). In addition, many people believe that, the Electoral College process of electing the president necessitates replacement with a direct popular vote to honor our democratic form of government in the United States. Moreover, in a democratic form of government, the authority rests with the people rather than in one or a few as in a totalitarian or authoritarian form of government. People believe a direct election supports the 14th Amendment principle of “one person, one vote” (Wagner 577). Therefore, the winner-take-all system inaccurately represents the will of the American citizens since not all candidates garner any electoral votes. On the other hand, a popular vote for the president could lead to many runoffs if neither candidate reaches a majority, creating a bigger opportunity for voter fraud and manipulation of the vote, which would not truly represent the will of the people, states, or country. The Electoral College sometimes fails to represent the national popular vote because states use the winner-take-all approach and not some proportional method for the representation of its voters. However, the Founding Fathers were not too keen on
This process of electing a president is unjust and is not based off of the people’s views. In Document D the chart provided illustrates how some of the electoral votes favor some states over others; for example the twelve states listed and the district of Columbia seem to have a bigger say in the presidential election process than the citizens of Illinois. This itself is unfair because Illinois deserves to have an accurate representation of their votes, the same as other states do. This shows that the Electoral College undercuts the principle of one person, one vote, and therefore violates political equality. “It is not a neutral counting device... it favors some citizens over others, depending solely upon the state in which voters cast their votes for president” (Document D). Political equality means all citizens are equal and it also allows citizens to partake in state affairs, including the right to vote and the right to challenge elections. However the Electoral College violates the principle of this for the fact that it weighs some citizens’ votes more heavily than others (video). Generally it makes no sense for the people to vote if they’re not even counted, and either way it violates their rights.
The author argues that without the use of an Electoral College that every vote by an American citizen would still create a big outcome in the election for a candidate. Instead of telling electors who citizens wished to cast their vote for, citizens would be able to really vote for the candidate in which they feel will be most effective for the country. The author believes that the Electoral College has soiled our elections and that we should make a better way in which we can make the elections more efficient and equal for each and every citizen in
Many proponents of the Electoral College argue that it protects smaller states in the Union and it forces presidential candidates to pay attention to smaller states. This is plainly wrong, considering that most presidential visits during the 2012 election were to Ohio, Florida, Virginia and Pennsylvania, the smallest of which (Virginia) is ranked 12th in population out of the 50 states and territories in the U.S. Furthermore, the electors for each state are not required to vote according to their citizen 's wishes, which means with the Electoral College, a vote really doesn 't count. Instead of this, we should use the outrageous idea of having a person 's vote count directly to a candidate (the popular vote or "direct democracy"). We need to get rid of the Electoral College soon, because according to history, a mistake is bound to happen again with American elections.
...onstitution and the issues with the electoral college. The fact that America remains on a first-past-the-post system instead of moving to a popular vote system when several Presidents were elected despite being the less popular candidate is ludicrous. Also while some of the initial flaws in the Constitution are understandable due to the need to rally support, those flaws are not representative of a democratic nation.
In the United States we are all guaranteed one vote per person. Everyone has an equal voice in electing the people that serve in the government. Every four years during the month of November citizens of America go to the polls to vote for a president and vice-president of the United States. Am I right? Not really. They actually vote for electors that then vote for our president. It makes me wonder, "Are we a democracy?" Having the Electoral College defeats its purpose. I oppose the electoral college for these three reasons, in election 2000 the president that lost the popular vote actually won, everyone's vote doesn't really count, plus the electoral college has disrupted elections fifteen times!
The Founders built certain protections for individual rights into this country's founding documents. The United States Constitution was one such document. In particular, such protections guard Americans who hold minority viewpoints from those who side with the majority. For example, the First Amendment protects the right of free speech to ensure that people who hold unpopular views have just as much freedom to express those views as do people who tend to agree with the majority. The United States Constitution, therefore, was intended to protect the individual rights of Americans from a tyrannical government and majority. However, today, the Electoral College does not represent the vibrant democracy into which the United States has grown.
Many people feel that this system is outdated, unfair and/or biased; that it should be replaced with the popular voting system. Unfortunately it is not as simple as...
over the past two centuries, the electoral college needs to be abolished and the election process needs to be changed. Keeping elections away from physical situations and making them into efficient, easy at home polling will make the election process smoother. Making the popular vote be the determining vote for president will keep more electors happier and will give them less reasons to lash out against the results. The recent elections have evolved from just electing the president, to being strong emotional situations that can possibly endanger many people when they end the wrong way. I think that if we can implement these two new ideas into the election process that it will keep electors safer, make them happier with the outcome, and will prevent elections from turning into bad
The American Political System The American political system is a federal system, which consists of