Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College?

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Author :
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 067497414X
Total Pages : 545 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (749 download)

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Book Synopsis Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College? by : Alexander Keyssar

Download or read book Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College? written by Alexander Keyssar and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2020-07-31 with total page 545 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New Statesman Book of the Year “America’s greatest historian of democracy now offers an extraordinary history of the most bizarre aspect of our representative democracy—the electoral college...A brilliant contribution to a critical current debate.” —Lawrence Lessig, author of They Don’t Represent Us Every four years, millions of Americans wonder why they choose their presidents through an arcane institution that permits the loser of the popular vote to become president and narrows campaigns to swing states. Congress has tried on many occasions to alter or scuttle the Electoral College, and in this master class in American political history, a renowned Harvard professor explains its confounding persistence. After tracing the tangled origins of the Electoral College back to the Constitutional Convention, Alexander Keyssar outlines the constant stream of efforts since then to abolish or reform it. Why have they all failed? The complexity of the design and partisan one-upmanship have a lot to do with it, as do the difficulty of passing constitutional amendments and the South’s long history of restrictive voting laws. By revealing the reasons for past failures and showing how close we’ve come to abolishing the Electoral College, Keyssar offers encouragement to those hoping for change. “Conclusively demonstrates the absurdity of preserving an institution that has been so contentious throughout U.S. history and has not infrequently produced results that defied the popular will.” —Michael Kazin, The Nation “Rigorous and highly readable...shows how the electoral college has endured despite being reviled by statesmen from James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson to Edward Kennedy, Bob Dole, and Gerald Ford.” —Lawrence Douglas, Times Literary Supplement

Electing Our President

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Author :
Publisher : Fearon Teacher Aids
ISBN 13 : 9780822426882
Total Pages : 68 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (268 download)

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Book Synopsis Electing Our President by : Nancy Gill

Download or read book Electing Our President written by Nancy Gill and published by Fearon Teacher Aids. This book was released on 1988 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

We Elect a President

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Author :
Publisher : Colonial Press L.P.
ISBN 13 : 9780977072231
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (722 download)

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Book Synopsis We Elect a President by : Tara Ross

Download or read book We Elect a President written by Tara Ross and published by Colonial Press L.P.. This book was released on 2016-09-12 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America's unique presidential election system is often misunderstood-and perhaps especially hard to explain to our children. "We Elect a President: The Story of Our Electoral College" will help you and your family discover more about the Electoral College and its remarkable history. Why was it created in the first place? Does it still work today? Written in straightforward language and complemented with playful illustrations, "We Elect a President" explains how the Electoral College works and why it is still needed in a great, diverse country such as our own: As the Founders intended, the system continues to protect our republic and promote our liberty. "We Elect a President" is written by Electoral College expert Tara Ross and illustrated by Kate E. Cooper. It presents a fun, yet educational way to learn more about America's too-often misunderstood presidential election system.

How We Elect Our Presidents

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 78 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (319 download)

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Book Synopsis How We Elect Our Presidents by : Wallace Clopton

Download or read book How We Elect Our Presidents written by Wallace Clopton and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 78 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The Electoral College

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 20 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (327 download)

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Book Synopsis The Electoral College by : William C. Kimberling

Download or read book The Electoral College written by William C. Kimberling and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

How Do We Elect Our Leaders?

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Author :
Publisher : Gareth Stevens Publishing LLLP
ISBN 13 : 083688860X
Total Pages : 33 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (368 download)

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Book Synopsis How Do We Elect Our Leaders? by : William David Thomas

Download or read book How Do We Elect Our Leaders? written by William David Thomas and published by Gareth Stevens Publishing LLLP. This book was released on 2008-01-08 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes how the president of the United States, Senators and members of the House of Representatives, and state and local officials are elected, and explains the importance of voting.

How America Chooses Its Presidents

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Author :
Publisher : AuthorHouse
ISBN 13 : 146345371X
Total Pages : 204 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (634 download)

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Book Synopsis How America Chooses Its Presidents by : Alexander S. Belenky

Download or read book How America Chooses Its Presidents written by Alexander S. Belenky and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2007-04-11 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How America Chooses Its Presidents addresses in a simple manner the whole spectrum of issues relating To The Electoral College from the perspective of its logical foundations. This is the first book to question the applicability of the Presidential Succession Act, a Federal Statute, In certain extreme but possible situations. The book argues that the act may not protect the country from election stalemates. Today, 50 states and DC rather than a college of electors award electoral votes in presidential elections. This appears to violate the "one state, one vote" principle, The constitutional norm governing the electing of a President by states, since a state's electoral vote quota is based on the size of its population. Despite the counting of the nationwide popular vote since the 1824 election, its tally does not have any constitutional status, since the popular vote in every state is no more than a means for determining the winning slate of presidential electors in the state. The "winner-take-all" principle of awarding electoral votes makes many states "safe" for either major party candidate. This narrows election campaigns to a "battleground minority" of the states and contributes to keeping more than 40% of the electorate uninterested in voting in presidential elections. Abolishing the existing election system in favor of a direct popular presidential election—by means of a constitutional amendment—seems unlikely. Seventeen small states—with five and fewer electoral votes each—have no reason to voluntarily surrender the "one state, one vote" principle in electing a President in the House of Representatives, As well as the chance of having a say in the Electoral College. The book analyzes a controversial proposal to "circumvent" the small states by introducing a direct popular presidential election without a constitutional amendment and argues that this proposal is unlikely to prevail either. The book proposes a modification of the existing election system to allow the country to choose a ticket carrying two mandates that the electorate can give in the election—from the nation as a whole and from the states and DC as equal members of the Union. If any two tickets carry one mandate each, The number of electoral votes won by each ticket helps determine the election outcome. If neither a majority of voting voters nor a majority of 51 members of the Union favor any ticket, The Electoral College mechanism takes over as a backup, and if it fails, The election is thrown into the US Congress. The book, written for a general readership, provides an overview of original election rules, determined by Article 2 of the US Constitution, and contemporary ones, determined by the Twelfth Amendment. Understanding the book does not require any special knowledge, making it accessible to people of all walks of life at any age. At the same time, The readers of How America Chooses Its Presidents will undoubtedly improve their ability to think logically, making them more critical of statements about the Electoral College and about election campaigns.

Who Will Be the Next President?

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Author :
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 3642326366
Total Pages : 147 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (423 download)

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Book Synopsis Who Will Be the Next President? by : Alexander S. Belenky

Download or read book Who Will Be the Next President? written by Alexander S. Belenky and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-10-01 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses the peculiarities of the current presidential election system not yet addressed in other publications. It argues that any rules for electing a President that may have a chance to replace the current ones should provide an equal representation of states as equal members of the Union, and of the nation as a whole. This book analyzes the National Popular Vote plan and shows that this plan may violate the Supreme Court decisions on the equality of votes cast in statewide popular elections held to choose state electors. Thus, the National Popular Vote plan may violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The book proposes a new election system in which the will of the states and the will of the nation as a whole are determined by direct popular elections for President and Vice President in the 50 states and in D.C. This system a) would elect President a candidate who is the choice of both the nation as a whole and of the states as equal members of the Union, b) would let the current system elect a President only if no such candidate exists, and c) would encourage the candidates to campaign nationwide. From the contents: The initial design of the Electoral College: basic ideas, logical mistakes, and overlooked problems.- The Electoral College today.- Curbing contingent elections.- Inconvenient facts about the Electoral College.- The Electoral College and campaign strategies.- The National Popular Vote plan: a brilliant idea or a dead-on-arrival delusion?.- Equalizing the will of the states and the will of the nation.- Conclusion.

How the President Is Elected

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Author :
Publisher : Infobase Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1438107455
Total Pages : 97 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (381 download)

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Book Synopsis How the President Is Elected by : Heather Lehr Wagner

Download or read book How the President Is Elected written by Heather Lehr Wagner and published by Infobase Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The election of a president is one of the most important events in American politics. While the concept is the same, the process of electing presidents has changed considerably since George Washington became the first president of the United States: polit

Let the People Pick the President

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Author :
Publisher : Macmillan + ORM
ISBN 13 : 1250221986
Total Pages : 177 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (52 download)

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Book Synopsis Let the People Pick the President by : Jesse Wegman

Download or read book Let the People Pick the President written by Jesse Wegman and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2020-03-17 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Wegman combines in-depth historical analysis and insight into contemporary politics to present a cogent argument that the Electoral College violates America’s ‘core democratic principles’ and should be done away with..." —Publishers Weekly The framers of the Constitution battled over it. Lawmakers have tried to amend or abolish it more than 700 times. To this day, millions of voters, and even members of Congress, misunderstand how it works. It deepens our national divide and distorts the core democratic principles of political equality and majority rule. How can we tolerate the Electoral College when every vote does not count the same, and the candidate who gets the most votes can lose? Twice in the last five elections, the Electoral College has overridden the popular vote, calling the integrity of the entire system into question—and creating a false picture of a country divided into bright red and blue blocks when in fact we are purple from coast to coast. Even when the popular-vote winner becomes president, tens of millions of Americans—Republicans and Democrats alike—find that their votes didn't matter. And, with statewide winner-take-all rules, only a handful of battleground states ultimately decide who will become president. Now, as political passions reach a boiling point at the dawn of the 2020 race, the message from the American people is clear: The way we vote for the only official whose job it is to represent all Americans is neither fair nor just. Major reform is needed—now. Isn't it time to let the people pick the president? In this thoroughly researched and engaging call to arms, Supreme Court journalist and New York Times editorial board member Jesse Wegman draws upon the history of the founding era, as well as information gleaned from campaign managers, field directors, and other officials from twenty-first-century Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns, to make a powerful case for abolishing the antiquated and antidemocratic Electoral College. In Let the People Pick the President he shows how we can at long last make every vote in the United States count—and restore belief in our democratic system.

The Electoral College

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Author :
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN 13 : 9781481063708
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (637 download)

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Book Synopsis The Electoral College by : Thomas Neale

Download or read book The Electoral College written by Thomas Neale and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2012-11-21 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Americans vote for President and Vice President, they are actually choosing presidential electors, known collectively as the electoral college. It is these officials who choose the President and Vice President of the United States. The complex elements comprising the electoral college system are responsible for one of the most important processes of the American political and constitutional system: election of the President and Vice President. A failure to elect, or worse, the choice of a chief executive whose legitimacy might be open to question, could precipitate a profound constitutional crisis that would require prompt, judicious, and well-informed action by Congress. Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, as amended in 1804 by the 12th Amendment, sets forth the requirements for election of the President and Vice President. It authorizes each state to appoint, by whatever means the legislature chooses, a number of electors equal to the combined total of its Senate and House of Representatives delegations, for a contemporary total of 538, including three electors for the District of Columbia. Since the Civil War, the states have universally provided for popular election of the presidential electors. Anyone may serve as an elector, except Members of Congress and persons holding offices of "Trust or Profit" under the Constitution. In each presidential election year, the political parties and other groups that have secured a place on the ballot in each state nominate a "slate" or "ticket" of candidates for elector. When voters cast a single vote for their favored candidates on general election day, Tuesday after the first Monday in November (November 6 in 2012), they are actually voting for the slate of electors pledged to those candidates. The entire slate of electors winning the most popular votes in the state is elected, a practice known as winner-take-all, or the general ticket system. Maine and Nebraska use an alternative method, the district plan, which awards two electors to the popular vote winners statewide, and one to the popular vote winners in each congressional district. Electors assemble in their respective states on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December (December 17 in 2012). They are expected to vote for the candidates they represent. Separate ballots are cast for President and Vice President, after which the electoral college ceases to exist until the next presidential election. State electoral vote results are reported to Congress and are counted and declared at a joint session of Congress, usually held on January 6 of the year succeeding the election, a date that may be altered by legislation. Since January 6 falls on a Sunday in 2013, Congress will likely set another date for the joint session in 2013, possibly January 8. A majority of electoral votes (currently 270 of 538) is required to win, but the results submitted by any state are open to challenge at the joint session, as provided by law. Past proposals for change by constitutional amendment have included various reform options and direct popular election, which would eliminate the electoral college system, but no substantive action on this issue has been taken in Congress for more than 20 years. At present, however, a non-governmental organization, the National Popular Vote (NPV) campaign, proposes to reform the electoral college by action taken at the state level; eight states and the District of Columbia have approved the NPV compact to date.

After the People Vote

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Author :
Publisher : A E I Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 126 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (97 download)

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Book Synopsis After the People Vote by : Norman J. Ornstein

Download or read book After the People Vote written by Norman J. Ornstein and published by A E I Press. This book was released on 1992 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The new edition of this popular guide examines how the electoral college and postelection processes work and includes a short history of contested elections.

The Selection and Election of Presidents

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351474391
Total Pages : 198 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (514 download)

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Book Synopsis The Selection and Election of Presidents by : Daniel Gasman

Download or read book The Selection and Election of Presidents written by Daniel Gasman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States' presidential selection process is intricate, constantly evolving, and imperfectly understood by most American voters. The long campaign brings to light conflicting concepts of the role of the president, inherent constraints on his powers, contradictions in the selection process, and possibilities for change or compromise that are at once its strength and its weakness.The Selection and Election of Presidents is based on a series of meetings and seminars organized by a French-American organization concerned with the presidential selection/election process. A varied group of experts ranging from former presidential candidates, to party leaders to professors engaged each other in an informal setting with much give and take between the speakers and questions from participants. The result is a primer on how political parties operate, their relationship to other elements in the American political system, and how eff ectively parties operate in the light of changes or reforms.The exchanges resulting from the seminars that are the basis of this volume provide a still-valuable outline of how the American system works when presidents are selected.

How We Choose a President

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 208 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis How We Choose a President by : Lee Learner Gray

Download or read book How We Choose a President written by Lee Learner Gray and published by . This book was released on 1968 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes and explains the activities of a presidential election year. Discusses the search for candidates, nominations, campaigns, and election day. Includes a table of presidential elections in the United States, noting candidates, parties, and electoral votes received.

America Votes

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781553370864
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (78 download)

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Book Synopsis America Votes by : Linda Granfield

Download or read book America Votes written by Linda Granfield and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An informative and up-to-date look at how we elect our government.

Electoral College Reform

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Author :
Publisher : DIANE Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1437925693
Total Pages : 34 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (379 download)

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Book Synopsis Electoral College Reform by : Thomas H. Neale

Download or read book Electoral College Reform written by Thomas H. Neale and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2010-11 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contents: (1) Intro.; (2) Competing Approaches: Direct Popular Election v. Electoral College Reform; (3) Direct Popular Election: Pro and Con; (4) Electoral College Reform: Pro and Con; (5) Electoral College Amendments Proposed in the 111th Congress; (6) Contemporary Activity in the States; (7) 2004: Colorado Amendment 36; (8) 2007-2008: The Presidential Reform Act (California Counts); (9) 2006-Present: National Popular Vote -- Direct Popular Election Through an Interstate Compact; Origins; The Plan; National Popular Vote, Inc.; Action in the State Legislatures; States That Have Approved NPV; National Popular Vote; (10) Prospects for Change -- An Analysis; (11) State Action -- A Viable Reform Alternative?; (12) Concluding Observations.

The Selection and Election of Presidents

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351474405
Total Pages : 182 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (514 download)

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Book Synopsis The Selection and Election of Presidents by : Robert S. Hirschfield

Download or read book The Selection and Election of Presidents written by Robert S. Hirschfield and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States' presidential selection process is intricate, constantly evolving, and imperfectly understood by most American voters. The long campaign brings to light conflicting concepts of the role of the president, inherent constraints on his powers, contradictions in the selection process, and possibilities for change or compromise that are at once its strength and its weakness.The Selection and Election of Presidents is based on a series of meetings and seminars organized by a French-American organization concerned with the presidential selection/election process. A varied group of experts ranging from former presidential candidates, to party leaders to professors engaged each other in an informal setting with much give and take between the speakers and questions from participants. The result is a primer on how political parties operate, their relationship to other elements in the American political system, and how eff ectively parties operate in the light of changes or reforms.The exchanges resulting from the seminars that are the basis of this volume provide a still-valuable outline of how the American system works when presidents are selected.