American Vote Really Count Thesis
I
Does The American Vote Really Count?
Michelle Ellis
South University January 16, 2013
Author Note This paper was prepared for English 2001, Section 06, taught by Professor Phillips.
Thesis
Without the Electoral College, one sole human being or a party of political influence such as congress could possibly have too much governmental power. This is why the Founders chose to establish a safeguard of sorts to help with the checks and balances the Constitution refers to. Although very dated, this institution could benefit from some modernization. No longer do we have issues with communication: we have email, cell-phones and electronic voting machines. Prior …show more content…
to writing this essay this researcher had immense opposition to the Electoral College. However, after researching the evidence for this essay, and comparing the information leading to the pros and cons, this writer has a better understanding of the system and it’s interworking. From the information you peruse it is expected that the reader will required to be use it to make an informed decision to clearly decide whether or not the Electoral College is still required to be used to elect our President. Does the college need to remain, updated or be abolished.
My interest for this paper was why do we still use the Electoral College?
After an extensive review of ten articles, I have developed the following information: The President of the United States is not chosen due to popular vote, but rather due to the fact that the framers of the constitution created the Electoral College. Americans have questioned the system since its creation. (Uselton, 2008) The Electoral College was born due out of the the debate whether congress had the power to elect a president, or did the public’s national vote. One wonders if because we have such a democracy in place, does the American vote really count? Recently during the 2012 Presidential election, this researcher asked her husband if he had voted yet. He replied “yea, but who cares, it didn’t count anyway”. (W. K. Ellis, & M. J. Ellis, personal communication, November 13, 2012). It boggles the mind to think how many Americans think that and don’t even bother to get out and vote. I think as Americans we have lost our way in the political system. It is complex and difficult to understand. No longer do people gather at the barbershop to talk about politics and process. They spend their time watching sports on the big screen while waiting for their haircut. Poplar vote wins you nothing in the political arena; the big game takes place at the Electoral College. Let us start with the origins of our political system. The Electoral College was developed to assist in the debate of who …show more content…
should elect our President. Who would be given the ultimate power of deciding? The system was intended to be a sort of unbiased way of deciding this debate.
The Origin of the Electoral College
There is a contemporary idea in the political science world that the Electoral College is undemocratic. This is fostered by (1) understanding what “democratic” is what (or who) most voters want in extreme contrast to the Founding Fathers’ view that “democratic” combines as much as possible popular consent with “justice and the common good,” and (2) by the idea that “one person one vote” for president in each state is not democratic, because democracy requires “one vote, one value” nationally. (Glenn, 2003, p. 4) To understand the origin of the Electoral College, one must understand the roots of origin. The Electoral College was the name given to the United States Constitution’s plan to elect the President through fifty-one elections in the states simultaneously. This was their preference to one national election. (Glenn, 2003, p. 4) The constitution leaves how the elections are conducted up to the state’s discretion. The constitution allows the states to allocate their Electoral College votes if the candidate wins that state, rather than allowing a national vote. In fact, each state actually makes up electoral colleges. Glenn argues that the Electoral College is in truth, democratic. (Glenn, 2003, p. 4).
Do We Really Need An Electoral College?
There is a contemporary idea in the political science world that the Electoral College is undemocratic. This is fostered by (1) understanding what “democratic” is what (or who) most voters want in extreme contrast to the Founding Fathers’ view that “democratic” combines as much as possible popular consent with “justice and the common good,” and (2) by the idea that “one person one vote” for president in each state is not democratic, because democracy requires “one vote, one value” nationally. (Glenn, 2003, p. 4) To understand the origin of the Electoral College, one must understand the roots of origin. The Electoral College was the name given to the United States Constitution’s plan to elect the President through fifty-one elections in the states simultaneously. This was their preference to one national election. (Glenn, 2003, p. 4) The constitution allows how the elections are conducted up to the state’s discretion. The constitution allows the states to allocate their Electoral College votes if the candidate wins that state, rather than allowing a national vote. In fact, each state actually makes up electoral colleges. Glenn argues that the Electoral College is in truth, democratic. (Glenn, 2003, p. 4).
Nearly ninety-five million citizens live in California, Texas, New York and Illinois. However, did we really have a Presidential election in November 2012? There are eleven
States deemed worthy of attention. The candidates focus their appearances in those states, and spend more campaign dollars in an effort to win the Electoral College votes. States such as Florida, Ohio and Virginia are the states that are up for “grabs”. Living in Mississippi with only seven electoral votes really does not pay back enough electoral votes for it to have a lot of personal appearances and extra revenue spent on advertisements until close to the of the campaign. How many voters just don’t believe they are worthy of getting out to vote, especially the elderly if the Electoral College will do it for them? This is an entirely new debate to discuss at another time.
Popular Vote Winners Losing Due To The Electoral College George W.
Bush was outpolled by Al Gore in the 2000 election. It was a victory short-lived due to the fact that Bush was the fourth president elected despite losing the popular vote. It is in fact, true that one can win the popular vote, but loose the Electoral College. Knowing this, many eyebrows have been raised over the Electoral College. According to Chapman, there have been numerous bills brought before congress to amend this issue, but would have no chance of passing. Chapman believes that the minority of senators from the overrepresented states would not allow the amendment to pass. Today, there is a movement calling for a more democratic alternative. This movement is called the National Popular Vote Plan. The main plan is have all states to agree to allocate their electoral college votes who wins the national popular vote, no matter which candidate wins in their state. This is similar to how Maine and Nebraska do their vote actually known as “populational proportion” . Chapman also believes that allowing the addition of two senators to each state changes the proportion of how much an individual vote is worth in each state. Additionally, he believes the Electoral College violates the one person, one vote rule which is a vital rule of a modern democracy. Gallup polls from 1944 to 2004 states that the majority of Americans would like to see the Electoral College abolished. (Chapman, 2012, p. 1.23). The United States Constitution does include a clause for
interstate compacts to have congressional approval. Thus one would be hard pressed to get congressional approval for an article amendment to abolish the Electoral College (Chapman, 2012, p. 1).
Conclusions
We have explored the topic of the Electoral College, some background concerning the origin and winning the popular vote versus the Electoral College. Make your own decisions about your political views after reading this essay. As you can derive from the essay, there are certainly pros and cons to having an Electoral College. However, the basis of the college is to protect the United States from tyranny, and having a president who “acts appropriately” in order to earn a second term. Politics has evolved from drawing straws to the modern voting machines found in polling places. In theory, even a candidate with one-fourth of the popular vote may still win the Presidency. I found it interesting that in 1988 only 21.6% of a potential 88.4 million votes were cast. (Barnett, 2009, p. 451). My husband always says” if you don’t vote, don’t gripe.”(W. K. Ellis, & M. J. Ellis, personal communication, November 13, 2012). Judging from the 1988 voting statistics, it appears to potentially be some truth to his statement. As the literature points out all sources appear to be credible and noteworthy. I read the same information repetitively. As instructed, I tried not to take sides writing my essay. However, now I am quite sure where I stand on my views of the Electoral College. As you can see, there are numerous sources available to peruse and I only touched the base of the mountains of information in print, radio, and on the internet. This has been a debatable topic since the inception of the Founders idea of forming the Electoral College. The sources I cited were either one sided, or pro versus con on the subject. I am quite sure that the Founders did not expect debate over the topic in the twenty-first century. They simply were trying to protect our right to vote, or rather the man’s right to vote. I noted throughout the papers, there were many statistics that were difficult to decipher. The sources have scores of mathematical analyses and simulations to interpret this topic as qualitative. This makes the research that extremely challenging. I feel that all of my sources were credible, and are appropriate to use as references for this topic. My decision is that the Electoral College works, but it needs some modernization. Modernization would include that we now have email, computers, cell phones, and electronic voting machines. Mississippi still uses the ballot, and the scanner count method. My prior thoughts regarding the Electoral College was that it should be abolished. Doing the research and writing this essay changed this researcher’s mind. I had maintained that stance since I was eighteen years old. I remember my first time to vote, in the election of 1984. I can recall who I voted for as well. Actually I can remember how proud I was voting for the first time and getting extra credit in civics just to go and register to vote. As my civics teacher was passionate about the right to vote, and all of the blood shed to ensure that we have the right to vote. To change one’s opinion after nearly 30 years is quite remarkable. So how will I use this information? I will continue to arrive at my assigned voting location and cast my vote. My vote does count. We should all be of that mindset. Go vote. Your vote counts as well. One person can’t change the system by voting, but if we all vote, we can make our voices heard. However, if thousands vote to make a change, laws can be changed, and laws can be passed. Try to remember how many of you have voted in the Presidential election. Did the candidate of your choice win? That is how the electoral college works. Even if your candidate didn’t win, that is how the Electoral College works as well. No longer are we separated by thousands of miles, and require a voice to express our votes. We have email, faxes, direct mailing, and transportation is no longer a problem. People should get out and vote to voice their opinions. You can’t fuss and be upset if you don’t vote. The candidates do focus their attention on the larger states after the primaries, but thinking about it logically, the population is dense in those states, and a smart candidate would desperately attempt to solicit their votes. Thus, they get more bang for their “buck”. Remember those soldiers in the revolutionary war who lost their lives in order to allow us to have modern day voting. This in no way forgetting the other wars, of which gave us our rights.
References (2012, August 20). Why Do We Still Let the Electoral College Pick Our President? Targeted News Service. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/1034516396?account id=87314
Althouse, A. (2001, Spring). Electoral college reform: Deja vu. Northwestern University Law Review, 95, 993-1014. Retrieved from https://login.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login? url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/233359205?accountid=13931
Barnett, A. (2009, Winter). Selecting the Nation’s CEO: A Risk Assessment of the Electoral College*[dagger]: JMI JMI. Journal of Managerial Issues, 21, 447-460,443. Retrieved from https://login.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login? url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/194167344?accountid=13931
Cain, C., Basciano, P. M., & Cain, E. (2007, March). The Electoral College: diversification and the election process. Constitutional Political Economy, 18, 21-34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10602-006-9010-0
Chapman, S. (2012, October 11). Shafted by the Electoral College: Most Americans are irrelevant in the campaign. Chicago Tribune, 1.23. Retrieved from http://research.proquest.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/1095628181?accountid=87314
Cohen, J. E. (2005, Autumn). Why the Electoral College is Bad for America. Congress & the Presidency, 32, 173-175. Retrieved from https://login.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login? url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/205933884?accountid=13931
Glenn, G. (2003, Winter). The electoral college and the development of American democracy. Perspectives on Political Science, 32, 4-8. Retrieved from https://login.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login? url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/194699043?accountid=13931
Groffman, B., & Feld, S. L. (2005, April). Thinking About the Political Impacts of the Electoral College. Public Choice, 123(1-2), 1-18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11127-005-3210-4
Riggs, J. E., Hobbs, G. R., & Riggs, T. H. (2009, April). Electoral College Winner’s Advantage. PS, Political Science & Politics, 42, 353-357. Retrieved from https://login.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login? url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/224973450?accountid=13931https://login.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login? url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/224973450?accountid=13931
Uselton, S. W. (2008, November). Instant Runoff Voting in the Electoral College. Policy Studies Journal, 36, 687-688. Retrieved from https://login.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login? url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/210547105?accountid=13931
Does The American Vote Really Count?
Michelle Ellis
South University January 16, 2013
Author Note This paper was prepared for English 2001, Section 06, taught by Professor Phillips.
Thesis
Without the Electoral College, one sole human being or a party of political influence such as congress could possibly have too much governmental power. This is why the Founders chose to establish a safeguard of sorts to help with the checks and balances the Constitution refers to. Although very dated, this institution could benefit from some modernization. No longer do we have issues with communication: we have email, cell-phones and electronic voting machines. Prior …show more content…
to writing this essay this researcher had immense opposition to the Electoral College. However, after researching the evidence for this essay, and comparing the information leading to the pros and cons, this writer has a better understanding of the system and it’s interworking. From the information you peruse it is expected that the reader will required to be use it to make an informed decision to clearly decide whether or not the Electoral College is still required to be used to elect our President. Does the college need to remain, updated or be abolished.
My interest for this paper was why do we still use the Electoral College?
After an extensive review of ten articles, I have developed the following information: The President of the United States is not chosen due to popular vote, but rather due to the fact that the framers of the constitution created the Electoral College. Americans have questioned the system since its creation. (Uselton, 2008) The Electoral College was born due out of the the debate whether congress had the power to elect a president, or did the public’s national vote. One wonders if because we have such a democracy in place, does the American vote really count? Recently during the 2012 Presidential election, this researcher asked her husband if he had voted yet. He replied “yea, but who cares, it didn’t count anyway”. (W. K. Ellis, & M. J. Ellis, personal communication, November 13, 2012). It boggles the mind to think how many Americans think that and don’t even bother to get out and vote. I think as Americans we have lost our way in the political system. It is complex and difficult to understand. No longer do people gather at the barbershop to talk about politics and process. They spend their time watching sports on the big screen while waiting for their haircut. Poplar vote wins you nothing in the political arena; the big game takes place at the Electoral College. Let us start with the origins of our political system. The Electoral College was developed to assist in the debate of who …show more content…
should elect our President. Who would be given the ultimate power of deciding? The system was intended to be a sort of unbiased way of deciding this debate.
The Origin of the Electoral College
There is a contemporary idea in the political science world that the Electoral College is undemocratic. This is fostered by (1) understanding what “democratic” is what (or who) most voters want in extreme contrast to the Founding Fathers’ view that “democratic” combines as much as possible popular consent with “justice and the common good,” and (2) by the idea that “one person one vote” for president in each state is not democratic, because democracy requires “one vote, one value” nationally. (Glenn, 2003, p. 4) To understand the origin of the Electoral College, one must understand the roots of origin. The Electoral College was the name given to the United States Constitution’s plan to elect the President through fifty-one elections in the states simultaneously. This was their preference to one national election. (Glenn, 2003, p. 4) The constitution leaves how the elections are conducted up to the state’s discretion. The constitution allows the states to allocate their Electoral College votes if the candidate wins that state, rather than allowing a national vote. In fact, each state actually makes up electoral colleges. Glenn argues that the Electoral College is in truth, democratic. (Glenn, 2003, p. 4).
Do We Really Need An Electoral College?
There is a contemporary idea in the political science world that the Electoral College is undemocratic. This is fostered by (1) understanding what “democratic” is what (or who) most voters want in extreme contrast to the Founding Fathers’ view that “democratic” combines as much as possible popular consent with “justice and the common good,” and (2) by the idea that “one person one vote” for president in each state is not democratic, because democracy requires “one vote, one value” nationally. (Glenn, 2003, p. 4) To understand the origin of the Electoral College, one must understand the roots of origin. The Electoral College was the name given to the United States Constitution’s plan to elect the President through fifty-one elections in the states simultaneously. This was their preference to one national election. (Glenn, 2003, p. 4) The constitution allows how the elections are conducted up to the state’s discretion. The constitution allows the states to allocate their Electoral College votes if the candidate wins that state, rather than allowing a national vote. In fact, each state actually makes up electoral colleges. Glenn argues that the Electoral College is in truth, democratic. (Glenn, 2003, p. 4).
Nearly ninety-five million citizens live in California, Texas, New York and Illinois. However, did we really have a Presidential election in November 2012? There are eleven
States deemed worthy of attention. The candidates focus their appearances in those states, and spend more campaign dollars in an effort to win the Electoral College votes. States such as Florida, Ohio and Virginia are the states that are up for “grabs”. Living in Mississippi with only seven electoral votes really does not pay back enough electoral votes for it to have a lot of personal appearances and extra revenue spent on advertisements until close to the of the campaign. How many voters just don’t believe they are worthy of getting out to vote, especially the elderly if the Electoral College will do it for them? This is an entirely new debate to discuss at another time.
Popular Vote Winners Losing Due To The Electoral College George W.
Bush was outpolled by Al Gore in the 2000 election. It was a victory short-lived due to the fact that Bush was the fourth president elected despite losing the popular vote. It is in fact, true that one can win the popular vote, but loose the Electoral College. Knowing this, many eyebrows have been raised over the Electoral College. According to Chapman, there have been numerous bills brought before congress to amend this issue, but would have no chance of passing. Chapman believes that the minority of senators from the overrepresented states would not allow the amendment to pass. Today, there is a movement calling for a more democratic alternative. This movement is called the National Popular Vote Plan. The main plan is have all states to agree to allocate their electoral college votes who wins the national popular vote, no matter which candidate wins in their state. This is similar to how Maine and Nebraska do their vote actually known as “populational proportion” . Chapman also believes that allowing the addition of two senators to each state changes the proportion of how much an individual vote is worth in each state. Additionally, he believes the Electoral College violates the one person, one vote rule which is a vital rule of a modern democracy. Gallup polls from 1944 to 2004 states that the majority of Americans would like to see the Electoral College abolished. (Chapman, 2012, p. 1.23). The United States Constitution does include a clause for
interstate compacts to have congressional approval. Thus one would be hard pressed to get congressional approval for an article amendment to abolish the Electoral College (Chapman, 2012, p. 1).
Conclusions
We have explored the topic of the Electoral College, some background concerning the origin and winning the popular vote versus the Electoral College. Make your own decisions about your political views after reading this essay. As you can derive from the essay, there are certainly pros and cons to having an Electoral College. However, the basis of the college is to protect the United States from tyranny, and having a president who “acts appropriately” in order to earn a second term. Politics has evolved from drawing straws to the modern voting machines found in polling places. In theory, even a candidate with one-fourth of the popular vote may still win the Presidency. I found it interesting that in 1988 only 21.6% of a potential 88.4 million votes were cast. (Barnett, 2009, p. 451). My husband always says” if you don’t vote, don’t gripe.”(W. K. Ellis, & M. J. Ellis, personal communication, November 13, 2012). Judging from the 1988 voting statistics, it appears to potentially be some truth to his statement. As the literature points out all sources appear to be credible and noteworthy. I read the same information repetitively. As instructed, I tried not to take sides writing my essay. However, now I am quite sure where I stand on my views of the Electoral College. As you can see, there are numerous sources available to peruse and I only touched the base of the mountains of information in print, radio, and on the internet. This has been a debatable topic since the inception of the Founders idea of forming the Electoral College. The sources I cited were either one sided, or pro versus con on the subject. I am quite sure that the Founders did not expect debate over the topic in the twenty-first century. They simply were trying to protect our right to vote, or rather the man’s right to vote. I noted throughout the papers, there were many statistics that were difficult to decipher. The sources have scores of mathematical analyses and simulations to interpret this topic as qualitative. This makes the research that extremely challenging. I feel that all of my sources were credible, and are appropriate to use as references for this topic. My decision is that the Electoral College works, but it needs some modernization. Modernization would include that we now have email, computers, cell phones, and electronic voting machines. Mississippi still uses the ballot, and the scanner count method. My prior thoughts regarding the Electoral College was that it should be abolished. Doing the research and writing this essay changed this researcher’s mind. I had maintained that stance since I was eighteen years old. I remember my first time to vote, in the election of 1984. I can recall who I voted for as well. Actually I can remember how proud I was voting for the first time and getting extra credit in civics just to go and register to vote. As my civics teacher was passionate about the right to vote, and all of the blood shed to ensure that we have the right to vote. To change one’s opinion after nearly 30 years is quite remarkable. So how will I use this information? I will continue to arrive at my assigned voting location and cast my vote. My vote does count. We should all be of that mindset. Go vote. Your vote counts as well. One person can’t change the system by voting, but if we all vote, we can make our voices heard. However, if thousands vote to make a change, laws can be changed, and laws can be passed. Try to remember how many of you have voted in the Presidential election. Did the candidate of your choice win? That is how the electoral college works. Even if your candidate didn’t win, that is how the Electoral College works as well. No longer are we separated by thousands of miles, and require a voice to express our votes. We have email, faxes, direct mailing, and transportation is no longer a problem. People should get out and vote to voice their opinions. You can’t fuss and be upset if you don’t vote. The candidates do focus their attention on the larger states after the primaries, but thinking about it logically, the population is dense in those states, and a smart candidate would desperately attempt to solicit their votes. Thus, they get more bang for their “buck”. Remember those soldiers in the revolutionary war who lost their lives in order to allow us to have modern day voting. This in no way forgetting the other wars, of which gave us our rights.
References (2012, August 20). Why Do We Still Let the Electoral College Pick Our President? Targeted News Service. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/1034516396?account id=87314
Althouse, A. (2001, Spring). Electoral college reform: Deja vu. Northwestern University Law Review, 95, 993-1014. Retrieved from https://login.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login? url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/233359205?accountid=13931
Barnett, A. (2009, Winter). Selecting the Nation’s CEO: A Risk Assessment of the Electoral College*[dagger]: JMI JMI. Journal of Managerial Issues, 21, 447-460,443. Retrieved from https://login.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login? url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/194167344?accountid=13931
Cain, C., Basciano, P. M., & Cain, E. (2007, March). The Electoral College: diversification and the election process. Constitutional Political Economy, 18, 21-34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10602-006-9010-0
Chapman, S. (2012, October 11). Shafted by the Electoral College: Most Americans are irrelevant in the campaign. Chicago Tribune, 1.23. Retrieved from http://research.proquest.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/1095628181?accountid=87314
Cohen, J. E. (2005, Autumn). Why the Electoral College is Bad for America. Congress & the Presidency, 32, 173-175. Retrieved from https://login.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login? url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/205933884?accountid=13931
Glenn, G. (2003, Winter). The electoral college and the development of American democracy. Perspectives on Political Science, 32, 4-8. Retrieved from https://login.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login? url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/194699043?accountid=13931
Groffman, B., & Feld, S. L. (2005, April). Thinking About the Political Impacts of the Electoral College. Public Choice, 123(1-2), 1-18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11127-005-3210-4
Riggs, J. E., Hobbs, G. R., & Riggs, T. H. (2009, April). Electoral College Winner’s Advantage. PS, Political Science & Politics, 42, 353-357. Retrieved from https://login.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login? url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/224973450?accountid=13931https://login.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login? url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/224973450?accountid=13931
Uselton, S. W. (2008, November). Instant Runoff Voting in the Electoral College. Policy Studies Journal, 36, 687-688. Retrieved from https://login.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login? url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/210547105?accountid=13931