...! ! The United States Electoral College system and its contemporary challenge ! Is the Electoral College process still relevant today ? ! For some of us - European people that are accustomed to the universal suffrage - the Electoral College process and its outcome may seem a bit surprising. In the 2000 U.S. presidential election, for example, more Americans voted for Gore, but Bush actually won the presidency because he was awarded the majority of Electoral College votes. It's a political upset that's occurred several times since the first U.S. presidential election; four presidents have been elected by the Electoral College after losing the popular vote. We'll explore briefly the historic start of the process and describe two original aspects of the political controversies surrounding the outcome of the Electoral College system : the winner-take-all method of allocating the state’s electors and faithlessness : the possibility for a member of the Electoral College to be a faithless elector which characterises a member of the Electoral College who for whatever reason does not vote for the presidential candidate for whom he or she had pledged to vote - or does not vote at all. In 1787 a group of leaders of what was a year before the thirteen colonies of Great Britain drafted the Constitution of the United States, they reached the now infamous ThreeFifths Compromise to determine the population of the different states that would then be used to decide the number of seats allocated...
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...Assignment 1: What is Federalism? Cathy Meade POL 110- U.S. Government Professor Tracy Herman August 10, 2014 Federalism is the political system for local units of government (regional, provincial, state, and municipal). The units are secure and are a national government in making decisions on some government matters. Since the American federalism began 200 years ago, it has endured remarkable changes. Today, all governments -- federal, state and local -- play a greater role in the lives of their citizens, expectations about what kind of services and rights people want from government have changed, and relations among the federal, state and local governments have become infinitely more complex (Meyer, 2007). The 1st change that has evolved is Civil Rights. According, to the Supreme Court, 1993-1996 overview past debates and on how to remedy past crimination and equalize opportunities for African Americans, Hispanics and other minority groups. In a number of closely divided rulings, the Court limited efforts to create majority-minority congressional districts to help elect more blacks and Hispanics to Congress. It also adopted a stricter test against the use of racial preferences in awarding government contracts. In addition, the Court sent lower federal court judges a strong signal to move more quickly to get out of school desegregation cases and restore schools to local control. The dispute over racial redistricting stemmed from efforts by civil rights groups, minority...
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...Political Parties and Electoral Process Strayer University POL 110 December 8, 2014 Political Parties and Electoral Process Democrats and Republicans have shaped the political landscape in the U.S. throughout history. Both parties intend to do what is best for the American people but vastly differ in philosophy and ideals. Democrats have been generally viewed as supporters of social services while Republicans encourage a limited government influence and a robust foreign policy. Furthermore, Democrats tend to lean towards an active government with the belief of improving the opportunity and equality. Meanwhile, Republicans tend to be more adamant about being pro-business and more self-reliant. The recovery of the economy has been a very divisive issue between Democrats and Republicans and has been well documented in recent years. A prime example is the dispute over the stimulus package released few years ago. One major dispute between the Republicans and Democrats regarding the growth of the economy is the proportion of tax cuts. Democrats heavily favored tax cuts for the lower and middle class and conceded to the idea of raising taxes for the 1 percent to stay economically balanced. While Republicans were opposed to the idea, they were in favor of tax cuts across the board. In addition, Democrats were in favor of impermanent exceptions for businesses creating additional employment opportunities. Another issue where Democrats and Republicans differ ideally...
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...Political Parties and the Electoral Process Dr. Michael Keith Smith U.S Government- POL 110 Strayer University March 7, 2015 Political Parties and the Electoral Process The relationship between political parties and the electoral system has always been a significant one. Federalists and Anti-Federalists formed political parties, each seeking control over the destiny of the new nation that was emerging from the Revolution. It was not long into the foundation of the United States that the protection of the people became a divergent issue among the country's first political parties. Federalists and Anti-Federalists clashed over how to best represent the needs of American citizens in the one document that would become the highest law in the nation — the Constitution. The issue of particular controversy was a component that has since become the mainstay of protecting the interests of the people: the Bill of Rights (Auerbach, 2015). This paper will take an in-depth look at the nature of political parties, as well as the two-party system that has evolved in the United States since its creation in 1776. An ideological difference between political parties is the contrasting visions that constitute their distinct mission and actions as well as the electorial program. While other democracies have numerous active political parties, in the United States there are but two major parties taking part in national elections—the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. ...
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...1. Identify three to four (3-4) ideological differences between America’s two (2) major political parties. Political ideology is known to be a certain set of ethical ideals, principles, myths, doctrines, or symbols of a social movement, institution, class, etc that explains how society should work and offers their political and cultural blueprint for a certain order. In America, we have various parties including two major political parties known as Democrat and Republican. Both parties both agree and have and ideas on how to run the country and what’s acceptable and not acceptable. Like any other party, both Democrats and Republicans may have some similar views but also have different views or beliefs that separate them. • One ideological difference between the Democrat and Republican parties is their view on personal security. The Democrat party believe that governments should not only secure the U.S. borders but to also advance on personal security. This belief has been translated into policies that extend health care access to as many citizens as possible, raising the minimum wage and expanding unemployment insurance as a result. Republicans on the other hand, vigorously opposes this use of government, insisting that we should not be compelled to our brothers’ keeper. It is known that of the 13 states that have refused the offer of the federal government to pay 100 percent of the costs to expand health care coverage, 12 of them are Republican controlled. Republicans see...
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...CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study Structured election process is one of the indicators of stability in Nigeria’s democracy. Elections in Nigeria continue to elicit more than casual interest by Nigerian scholars due to the fact that despite the appreciation that only credible election can consolidate and sustain the country’s nascent democracy, over the years, Nigeria continues to witness with growing disappointments and apprehension inability to conduct peaceful, free and fair, open elections whose results are widely accepted and respected across the country (Ekweremadu, 2011). All the elections that have ever been conducted in Nigeria since independence have generated increasingly bitter controversies and grievances on a national scale because of the twin problems of mass violence and fraud that have become central elements of the history of elections and of the electoral process in the country (Gberie, 2011). Despite the marked improvement in the conduct of the 2011 elections, the process was not free from malpractices and violence (National Democratic Institute, 2012). Thus over the years, electoral processes in the history of Nigeria’s democratic governance have continued to be marred by extraordinary display of rigging, dodgy, “do or die” affair, ballot snatching at gun points, violence and acrimony, thuggery, boycotts, threats and criminal manipulations of voters' list, brazen falsification of election results, the use of security agencies against...
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...“The Electoral College is a process, not a place (What is the).” The Electoral College has been around since the Constitution, but the reason for its existence is strange. When the Constitution was being created the Founding Fathers believed that the new found American citizens would be too stupid to govern themselves, and thus, The Electoral College was born. The Electoral College functions by giving each state a select number of votes based on population (What is the). Once each state gets their Electoral votes they must choose Electors; this is a two part process. First, Political Parties from the state chose potential electors, and then the people of the state vote on which electors they see fit (Electoral College Fast). Since its creation, The Electoral College has gone unquestioned, and we’ve never stopped to ask ourselves if it should still be in place. People are in opposition to The Electoral College because they believe it creates a sense of inequality, and lack of voice in vital elections. On the other hand, some people believe that The Electoral College gives states with smaller populations a voice, and is helping stupid people from making the wrong choice in elections. To some, The Electoral College has a magnitude of flaws perpetuating a unfair social hierarchy; to others, it is a system that is preventing inequality and anarchy to flourish in the United States. People believe that the The Electoral College is an unfair process created to silence the...
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...Electoral College Debate Introduction As said by Juan Williams, a journalist for FOX News, “In the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore got more votes than George W. Bush, but still lost the election. The Supreme Court's ruling in Florida gave Bush that pivotal state, and doomed Gore to lose the Electoral College. That odd scenario - where the candidate with the most votes loses - has happened three times in U.S. history.” Although forty-five U.S. presidents have been elected and this scenario has only happened three times, it still leads to scrutiny, questions, and arguments about the effectiveness of the Electoral College. These disputes have gone on for quite a while as to which method of choosing the president is the best option. The electoral...
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...is the Electoral College – an indirect voting system and not a national popular vote. This system was implemented by the Founding Fathers about 200 years ago (Shea 2005, 4-6) In recent times the debate about whether the Electoral College is still an effective system considering the circumstances the United States has to face now, is arising more and more. “American society is highly polarized in its perception of the existing election system” (Belenky 2012, ix). This paper has the aim to contrast the arguments against and in favor of the Electoral College and to demonstrate possible alternatives. In the conclusion an answer to the question “Should the Electoral College be reformed?” will be given. 2. How it works The Electoral College, as it is outlined in the 12th Amendment, is a body of electors chosen to elect the President and Vice President of the United States. In Article II of the Constitution the electing procedure is written down. Each state delegates a specific number of electors to the Electoral College, dependent on its representation in Congress (House of Representatives & Senate). According to the fact that each state has two Senators and at least one Representative (dependent on the size of the population in the state), each state has three electors at the minimum (for example Alaska). With 55 electors, California has the largest number at the moment (see illustration 1) (Electoral-vote.com 2013). Figure 1: Blank map of the U.S. with electoral vote ...
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...The Electoral College: The Fear of Mobocracy Katherine Kinert Olympic College, Bremerton Abstract The Electoral College is a very important part of the United States Electoral System. However, very few Americans actually understand how it works. The lack of political efficacy in this country is a large reason of why some people do not think the Electoral College should be abolished. However, as Eric Black (2012) stated in an article on PBS News Hour, “Polls for many years have reliably shown that a majority of Americans would prefer a straightforward popular vote for the presidency.” Originally the Electoral College was established to prevent majority factions from having too much power causing mobocracy to occur. However, this system is outdated and the conditions that prompted the founding fathers to institute this precaution no longer exist today. Also, the fact that almost all the states use a winner-take-all system to determine which candidate gets all of the electoral votes for the state. Will abolishing the Electoral College rid the United States from mobocracy? Introduction The Electoral College is outdated and does not follow the true spirit of American Democracy. David Stewart (2013), a lawyer in Washington, D.C., states that, “Because most people knew little about public events or leaders from distant states, the convention delegates reasoned, they would not make a wise choice between presidential candidates.” Today, people have access to information through TV...
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...Relevancy of the Electoral College The President is defined as the elected head, or leader, of a republican state. A republic a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives. The United States of America has proficiently based their processes on electing these officials, known as a President, on this basis. Their process included the voting of citizens in the United States for their [the people's] preferred delegate. The Founding Fathers of the United States developed a system where for the votes of the people to be counted for at a higher rate. This system is known as the Electoral College. The United States’ electoral college system throughout the years have been seen to work exceptionally well but many perceive the Electoral College to be both unfair and controversial. The Electoral College's role throughout the years of elections was ultimately against the true morals of the election process. To identify the controversial issue brought upon by the...
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...The electoral college system, what the United States of America uses to elect the President ever four years, is an outdated system that is not needed and does not make the election process any easier. We have had two instances where the popular vote has been different than the electoral college numbers. In an effort to keep the President of the United States of America popular, we must start off with electing someone who earned the majority of votes in the first place. To do this, we must use the popular vote. Accordingly, this paper will be directed toward the general audience of all voters and will discuss how the electoral college system is a bad idea to continue using and why the popular vote is the correct way to go. So, what is the “electoral college”...
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...The Electoral college is a body, in the U.S, that represents each state individually, who cast votes on the election for president and vice president. The electoral is a process not a place, that the founding fathers formed into the constitution for a compromise between all states for president. The college consist of 538 electors and only 270 votes for a president to win the election, which means out of four million people, 270 people pick the president. This might sound like a huge gap, but most representatives vote with the people. When all popular votes from citizens are collected, the representatives choose the electors. With a meeting for voting for the vice president and president, and counting of the electoral votes by congress....
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...The Electoral College: How Our System of Elections Needs to be Changed Richard Brookman Metropolitan State University of Denver Author Note This paper was prepared for ENG 1020, Section 031, taught by Professor Clark. Abstract Article two, section one of the Constitution details the creation and operation of the Electoral College. Each representative of each state, both senators and representatives, cast a vote for the President based on the wants of their constituents. This is the basis for the Electoral College; however our forefathers had little insight into the problems that can arise from crafting a quick solution to the problem of electing the commander-in-chief. Over the past 200 years, many changes have been made to the Electoral College when a problem has risen to give us the Electoral College of today. The people of the United States have seen what the Electoral College has become and want the election process to change into a popular vote system. The popular vote system isn’t the answer. Only a combination of the two systems will help to give fair representation to all of the states, while keeping the essence of majority rule that the people desire. This system includes a single vote for districts that are won by popular vote, getting rid of the human form of electors, and using today’s technology to make it easier to maneuver through the complexities of the voting process. The Electoral College: How Our System of Elections Needs...
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...Did you know that in the United States when you vote for president they are not elected by popular vote? They are elected by what is known as electoral votes. When you vote you are voting for electors that then elect the president based on the states votes instead of just electing the president by popular demand. This can be a problem because the people in the electoral college can go against their party. In the chances of a tie then the choice of president is given to the House of Representatives and that might not always give the people a fair vote. The electoral college is not necessary anymore and the President should be nominated through popular vote. To begin, some electors might not even vote for their party's candidate. Bradford Plumer writes, “In the same vein, faithless electors have occasionally refused to vote for their party's candidate and cast a deciding vote for whomever they please…” (Source 2). This shows that even when we vote in electors they may not always vote for the candidate that is in their party. This can make the voting process unfair because people will vote in electors to vote for someone and then they go against it and for for another person. This is just one way that electoral votes are unfair....
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