Persuasive Essay on Electoral College

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The United States uses a First-Past-The-Post system which is where the candidate achieving the most votes essentially wins, but functions with the Electoral College as a middle ground, this has many advantages and disadvantages. The Electoral College was initially made by the framers to be independent individuals generating the greatest decision for the nation, but unfortunately, the framers didnt anticipate the formation of political parties.

A disadvantage of the Electoral College is that the college is supposed to provide representation based on state size, and this may seem unjust because it doesnt represent what a greater amount of citizens in the country want. Such as the election between Trump and Clinton, Clinton won the popular vote but Trump won the electoral college votes. This creates a big disadvantage because the president is representing our Nation as a whole, and it seems unfair that the President represents a big entity of people when most of its citizens support the competing candidate rather than who is elected. But an advantage of the Electoral College also stems from the fact that it represents state size, this gives small states a chance to be heard and gives them a say in the election. If small states werent fairly represented then presidential candidates wouldnt provide the proper attention these states need and all campaigning would be done in big states, but since the electoral college is in place these minority states are still being treated equally and receiving the required attention. I believe the Electoral College should be replaced with a popular vote because as stated before, the President represents the nation, and it should be the majority of voices of citizens that should be heard. In 1913 the 17th amendment was passed, and it authorized that the Senate be directly elected by the people, a similar approach should be taken in voting for the President. The electoral college emphasizes the divide of the country, especially when a President is elected through the electoral college but the majority of the public opinion of the country supports the opposing candidate.

The Electoral College is defensible on the same basis as that of the Great Compromise. The Great Compromise allowed for equal representation between states, even when comparing larger and smaller states to one another by creating two houses. One house gave states representation based on their population size, while the other house gave every state an equal two candidates each. By allowing for two senators per state regardless of size, smaller states would be given equal say in policy decisions. On the other hand, the Houses population-based representation allowed for the majority populations to be represented by giving each state several representatives based on their population. On that same idea, the Electoral College is supposed to provide that same equal representation when electing a president. The Electoral College is made up of several Representatives based on the states representation in the House plus one vote per senator. In theory, the Electoral College means that no state will be overshadowed by another with a larger population. Thus, based on that idea, the Electoral College is defensible and provides a legitimate means of equal representation.

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