A Comparison of the Electoral College with Proportional Representation Essay

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How the Electoral System Works and Why It Is UndemocraticThe purpose of this paper is four-fold: 1) to describe the voting system in the United States and explain how it works; 2) to compare the American electoral system with the other types of voting systems; 3) to contrast the American electoral system with the other types of systems; and, 4) to provide an opinion as to which type of electoral system is the most democratic. Finally, the paper also provides a summary of the research and significant findings concerning the voting system in the United States in the conclusion.Identify the type of voting system in the United States and thoroughly explain the how it works;The voting system that is used in the United States to elect the president and vice president at present is termed the “electoral college,” which was created by the Founders as a compromise between having the U.S. Congress elect the president and vice president and a popular vote of qualified citizenry. According to the legal definition provided by Black’s Law Dictionary, the electoral college is “the college or body of electors of a state chosen to elect the president and vice president; also, the whole body of such electors, composed of the electoral colleges of the several states” (p. 520).Interestingly, although the origins of the electoral college are found in the Constitution, the term itself is not used. In this regard, federal archivists report that, “The Electoral College is the process by which the United States elects the President, even though that term does not appear in the U.S. Constitution. In this process, the States (which includes the District of Columbia just for this process) elect the President and Vice President” (Electoral College, 2023, para. 2). While the term “electoral college” does not appear in the Constitution, the document does make reference to electors in Article II and the 12th Amendment (Electoral College History, 2023).

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The Electoral College is currently comprised of 538 electors which are based in part on state population levels (states receive one electoral vote for each member of the House of Representative and one each for both senators) and a total of 270 electoral…

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…these situations simply give up and decide not to exercise their franchise at all, a decision that adversely affects presidential elections of course but down-ballot candidates as well. Democracy only works if everyone gets a voice, and the Electoral College ensures that only some voices are heard in presidential elections, making the system undemocratic by definition.ConclusionThe research was consistent in showing that the Electoral College voting system that is used in the United States today to elect the president and vice president provides smaller states with disproportionate political clout that is inherently undemocratic. Despite calls to replace the Electoral College with a direct presidential election based on the total popular vote, the system will likely remain in place unless and until the body politic wakes up and realize that many of its votes for president do not really count after all such as the case in 2016 and in several cases prior to that. It is long past time for this antiquated, cumbersome and profoundly unfair voting system to be replaced with an alternative that more directly reflects the will of the American….....

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