Constitutional Issues

American Government

Constitutional Issues

Intro to American Government and Politics (POL 101)

March 30, 2013

Americans could have cared less about the Electoral College prior to the last election.

Our forefathers of this great nation thought the system to be essentially important, today

however it is obsolete and many would like to see the system disbanded. Do we need

an electoral college, or should we simply count the popular vote to determine who should

lead our great nation? This is an issue that affects citizen’s rights as well as the poser of

states and the influence thereof, as well as raises the question of whether or not people

are fairly represented.

When the issue of how to elect the executive was first debated at the Constitutional

convention, it was thought that congress or the state governors should appoint the

executive up until that time the state legislatures had appointed delegates to the congress.

The championed state’s rights, fearing a more powerful federal government which might

trample state rights (CBUSC 76). By having an executive appointed by the state, state

interest would be more highly considered by the federal government. The framers also

fear the people they were sent to represent. The United States at the time was still a

comparatively large nation, and education was not a strong point of the system in place.

Qualifications of a candidate were not widely known by the average voter, and so the fear

of a blind vote was a relevant threat (CBUSC 77). With the majority of the nation

illiterate, word of mouth was the primary form of voter education. By allowing the

congress to elect the executive, a more informed choice would be made in the selection of

the national executive and thus the welfare of our nation...