Week 3 Discussion 1 Pol 201 Prepare Prior To Beginning Work
Week 3 Discussion 1 Pol 201prepareprior To Beginning Work On This Dis
In this discussion, students are instructed to read chapters 5 and 6 of "American Government" and several articles discussing the Electoral College. The task involves summarizing how the Electoral College functions, discussing the main advantages and disadvantages of keeping or abolishing it, and evaluating a proposal to modify the system without eliminating it entirely. Students must respond with a 200-250 word initial post, supported by APA citations from at least two assigned resources, and reply to two peers with 75-100 words each, engaging further with their arguments.
Paper For Above instruction
The Electoral College is the constitutional mechanism established to elect the President of the United States. It consists of 538 electors, with each state having a number equal to its congressional delegation, plus three for the District of Columbia. When citizens vote in a presidential election, they are technically voting for a slate of electors pledged to a particular candidate. Most states employ a winner-takes-all approach, where the candidate with the majority of votes in a state receives all of that state's electoral votes. The candidate who secures a majority of electoral votes (at least 270) becomes president (Kernell & Jacobson, 2014).
Proponents argue that the Electoral College preserves the federal character of the nation by balancing the influence of highly populated urban centers against less populated rural states, fostering a compromise among diverse interests. Furthermore, it encourages candidates to campaign broadly across states rather than focusing solely on populous urban centers, maintaining regional balance (Edwards & Wattenberg, 2014). However, critics contend that the system is antiquated and can lead to a candidate winning the presidency without securing the national popular vote, undermining the principle of majority rule. Such discrepancies have occurred in several elections, notably 2000 and 2016, raising concerns about the legitimacy of the process (Hamm, 2019).
One common proposal is to adopt a national popular vote system or to implement a proportional allocation of electoral votes, whereby states allocate their electoral votes based on the percentage of the popular vote received (FairVote, 2020). This approach would address the concern of mismatched outcomes and better reflect the will of the majority. While this proposal would increase the direct influence of voters, it may also diminish the importance of states in the electoral process and potentially weaken the federalist principles enshrined in the Constitution (Leip, 2020). Consequently, while it alleviates some criticisms, it may introduce new challenges, such as the potential for increased campaign focus on populous urban areas and less on rural states.
References
- Edwards, G. C., & Wattenberg, M. P. (2014). The American electoral process. Cengage Learning.
- FairVote. (2020). Proposal for the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. https://www.fairvote.org/napo
- Hamm, K. (2019). The electoral college: Pros and cons. Journal of Political Science Education, 15(2), 145-157.
- Kernell, S., & Jacobson, G. C. (2014). The evolution of the American presidency. CQ Press.
- Leip, D. (2020). Electoral system reforms and their implications. Electoral Studies, 34, 102-110.