US Chapter 6 - the Electoral College: how it works, strenghts

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  • The Electoral College
    • How does it work?
      • What is it?
        • The institution established by the Founding Fathers to indirectly elect the president and vice president
      • Popular votes for each state are counted, in all but 2 states, the candidate who wins the popular vote wins all that state's Electoral College votes (FPTP, winner-take-all system)
        • Electors meet in their state capitals on the the Monday after the second Wednesday in December, the results get sent to the VP in Washington
          • VP formally announces the result to a joint session of Congress in early January
        • Nebraska and Maine don't have a winner-take-all rule for the whole state, instead it is split into congressional districts
      • What if no candidate wins a majority?
        • This may happen if there is a 269-269 split, or there is a third candidate winning enough votes to mean that no candidate has a majority
        • The president would be elected by the House (each state has one vote), and the VP by the Senate (each senator has one vote) - may result in the ticket being split between two different parties
        • This was a possibility in 2000 with Bush and Gore, and 1968 with the third-party candidate George Wallace who won 45 Electoral College votes
    • Strengths
      • Preserves the voice of small-population states
        • some worry if it were abolished, small-population states would be ignored, swept away by the likes of CA, TX, NY, FL
        • preserves state identity, very important to Americans, a proportional system would fail to recognise state distinctions
      • Tends to promote a two-horse race
        • Winner will tend to receive the highest popular vote
        • Since 1864, in 2/3 of elections, the winner won >50% of popular vote
      • Prevents disputed outcomes ensuring a peaceful transition of power (usually)
        • 2020 - something of an anomaly, more based on the individual than the system
        • candidates must gain support of voters in several geographic regions - promotes national cohesion needed to ensure peaceful transfer of power
      • Makes campaigns less costly
        • Candidates rarely spend much time - or money - campaigning in states that traditionally vote for their party's candidates
      • States' rights, 10th amendment
        • a PR system would not respect this, it is up to states to decide how they carry out elections, and the Electoral College recognises the differences between states, and forces candidates to need support from a wide range of regions
          • if a PR system were used, due to how populous the main cities are, the voices of more rural communities may be ignored
      • Constitutional arguments
        • If a PR system were used, it could result in there being no clear winner, this would cause a constitutional crisis, and possibly change the whole presidential system, having a  single president is a fundamental part of the constitution

Comments

roanwis

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Interesting!

roanwis

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That's very interesting idea of standing the electoral college with all the advantages and disadvantages. I have made a similar project for my college task, and due to this site https://studyclerk.com/plagiarism-fixer I have accessed the essay plagiarism fixer and provided the unique work. I think that electoral college is the best choice for politics over the states.

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