On January 7, 1789, the United States, having recently adopted its Constitution, held its first presidential election. Only white men who owned property voted. They choose electors who in turn voted for the candidates. The Constitution is basically an outline of our basic human rights and it allows us to exercise those rights without being persecuted. Even with this document protecting our rights and stating that it makes every man equal, we have to look back on the restrictions that were put in place in order to even vote for the president.
In reality, at the end of the election, the popular vote which can easy be labeled as what the citizens want doesn’t count. Take the 2008 election for example, Al Gore received the majority of the popular vote, he had a huge advantage in popular votes however because of the Electoral College and it’s presidential electors, George Bush was elected president, and we all know how that turn out. Similar events
In an effort to create an accountable and effective democracy the constitutional founders created the re-election system for Congressional members. Each House member is re—elected every two years while senate members are elected every four years. Some political scientist argue that Congress is ineffective because of the focus on these frequent elections, while others contend that the competition and frequency of elections ensures accountability to the American people and does not hinder effective policy making. Congressional representatives must respond to these two contradictory expectations by the general public. They must be viewed as effective policy makers, and they must represent the views of their constituency which is known as the Paradox of the Legislature in a Liberal Democracy.
Some people that worried about the legitimacy of our government, have proposed various ways to increase voting. Some ways are mailing ballots to people’s home, same-day voting registration, and early voting. Another idea is America should turn Election Day to a national holiday, that way everyone can make time to vote. Through out time people have fought for our right to vote. Why waste our freedom to vote?
Joel Falconer English 1301-P30 Robin Fitts 30 October 2012 Abolishing the Electoral College Every four years in America, people across the nation vote for who will be the next President of the United States. The Electoral College is a tricky system that does not always truly represent the will of the people or elect the true majority winner. This is the reason why the Electoral College should be abolished. In a sense, the way the Electoral College works is actually like voting against other people in your state, hoping your elector that you vote for will win the majority. In some states such as Texas, California, and New York, it is clear before the election which elector or party they are voting for.
‘The Electoral College should be replaced by a national popular vote’ Discuss. The United States Electoral College is the institution that officially elects the President and Vice President of the United States every four years. The original purpose for the Electoral College was to avoid mob rule, and by giving these ‘electors’ the right to vote for the President rather than un-educated common folk. The Electoral College is also part of compromises made at the Philadelphia Convention to satisfy the smaller states. Under the system of the Electoral College each state had the same number of electoral votes as they have representative in Congress, thus no state could have less than 3.
Our Founding Fathers’ legacies have laid a path for America to follow, sidestepping injustice and promoting American ideals. Our Founding Fathers’ creation of the Electoral College was the guiding hand of America’s government and since 1787, electoral voting had always been used in presidential elections. It had been used for more than two hundred years and since then, no major problems have arisen. This month’s resolution is resolved: Direct popular vote should replace electoral vote in presidential elections. My partner and I strongly urge you to negate the resolution due to the following contentions: Contention #1: The Electoral College can enhance the ideologies of the Democratic and Republican parties.
Is the explanation for 1996 that it was a ‘forgone conclusion’ sufficient to explain why half of all registered voters did not vote? Did any social group vote less than their registered voting number would indicate? The 2000 election could not have been considered a foregone conclusion, and yet just about 50% of registered voters took part in that election. Are those groups traditionally associated with either party still safe bets after the showing of both parties during the Lewinsky scandal of 1996 when both parties have displayed serious errors of judgement and where a neutral observer might identify that partisan party politics seems to be a priority above what is best for the country as a whole? The Democrats appeared to have won over those middle/upper class people who did very well out of the economic boom seen
These beliefs have been the ideas and founding principles in the past, but in our modern society, voter suppression has again and again crippled the rights of the people. In the recent century, many laws and political tactics have forced many people away from voting. Why is it important for Americans to vote? The question may have conversional answers. Voting is important because it allows individuals their rights as humans to express their opinions.
than as being motivated by principles of direct democracy. At the time the labour party was very divided on the issue, causing the prime minister the problem of a divided cabinet, a problem contained through the use of a referendum as members of the cabinet would agree to the outcome of a referendum. In 1975 electorate voted roughly 2 to 1 ‘Yes’ in favour of remaining in the E.C. on a turnout of just under 65%. This was the first ever nationwide referendum.