FAITHLESS ELECTORS

» cmryor - Great Article

I really enjoyed this article. I had a double major in college of political science and history, and I never quite got a clear answer on why we need or should keep the electoral system.

If the electors always vote with the people, what is the real point of the system? I imagine that the founders wanted a more republican approach to the election, since many of them abhored democracy (which most people have no idea about!).

I still cringe when I hear people refer to America as a democracy when it is a republic that we are living in.

Nice work!

Colleen

-- posted by cmryor

» Mugwump53 - Democracy vs. Republicanism

Thanks for your kind words.

You raise a good point about the difference between a democracy and a republic. Most people don't understand the distinction. (Hmmm, a possible future article?)

The Founding Fathers did not trust the average man to know enough about people from other states, only from their own. Hence the system of choosing people from your own state to vote on your behalf. Much like Congress.

The most positive result of the Electoral College is that it magnifies the margin of victory, creating a majority winner where there might notbe a majority winner in terms of popular vote.

From past experience, we have learned the hard way that there are always unforseen side effects when you change the Constitution.

These may not be great reasons to keep the Electoral College, but they are very effective reasons.

Thanks for your post. Always interesting.

-- posted by Mugwump53