The Electoral College And The Constitution PDF Download
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Author | : Alexander Keyssar |
Publisher | : Harvard University Press |
Total Pages | : 545 |
Release | : 2020-07-31 |
Genre | : Political Science |
ISBN | : 067497414X |
Download Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College? Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
A New Statesman Book of the Year “America’s greatest historian of democracy now offers an extraordinary history of the most bizarre aspect of our representative democracy—the electoral college...A brilliant contribution to a critical current debate.” —Lawrence Lessig, author of They Don’t Represent Us Every four years, millions of Americans wonder why they choose their presidents through an arcane institution that permits the loser of the popular vote to become president and narrows campaigns to swing states. Congress has tried on many occasions to alter or scuttle the Electoral College, and in this master class in American political history, a renowned Harvard professor explains its confounding persistence. After tracing the tangled origins of the Electoral College back to the Constitutional Convention, Alexander Keyssar outlines the constant stream of efforts since then to abolish or reform it. Why have they all failed? The complexity of the design and partisan one-upmanship have a lot to do with it, as do the difficulty of passing constitutional amendments and the South’s long history of restrictive voting laws. By revealing the reasons for past failures and showing how close we’ve come to abolishing the Electoral College, Keyssar offers encouragement to those hoping for change. “Conclusively demonstrates the absurdity of preserving an institution that has been so contentious throughout U.S. history and has not infrequently produced results that defied the popular will.” —Michael Kazin, The Nation “Rigorous and highly readable...shows how the electoral college has endured despite being reviled by statesmen from James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson to Edward Kennedy, Bob Dole, and Gerald Ford.” —Lawrence Douglas, Times Literary Supplement
Author | : Jesse Wegman |
Publisher | : All Points Books |
Total Pages | : 272 |
Release | : 2020-03-17 |
Genre | : Political Science |
ISBN | : 1250221986 |
Download Let the People Pick the President Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
“Wegman combines in-depth historical analysis and insight into contemporary politics to present a cogent argument that the Electoral College violates America’s ‘core democratic principles’ and should be done away with..." —Publishers Weekly The framers of the Constitution battled over it. Lawmakers have tried to amend or abolish it more than 700 times. To this day, millions of voters, and even members of Congress, misunderstand how it works. It deepens our national divide and distorts the core democratic principles of political equality and majority rule. How can we tolerate the Electoral College when every vote does not count the same, and the candidate who gets the most votes can lose? Twice in the last five elections, the Electoral College has overridden the popular vote, calling the integrity of the entire system into question—and creating a false picture of a country divided into bright red and blue blocks when in fact we are purple from coast to coast. Even when the popular-vote winner becomes president, tens of millions of Americans—Republicans and Democrats alike—find that their votes didn't matter. And, with statewide winner-take-all rules, only a handful of battleground states ultimately decide who will become president. Now, as political passions reach a boiling point at the dawn of the 2020 race, the message from the American people is clear: The way we vote for the only official whose job it is to represent all Americans is neither fair nor just. Major reform is needed—now. Isn't it time to let the people pick the president? In this thoroughly researched and engaging call to arms, Supreme Court journalist and New York Times editorial board member Jesse Wegman draws upon the history of the founding era, as well as information gleaned from campaign managers, field directors, and other officials from twenty-first-century Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns, to make a powerful case for abolishing the antiquated and antidemocratic Electoral College. In Let the People Pick the President he shows how we can at long last make every vote in the United States count—and restore belief in our democratic system.
Author | : Thomas H. Neale |
Publisher | : DIANE Publishing |
Total Pages | : 34 |
Release | : 2010-11 |
Genre | : Political Science |
ISBN | : 1437925693 |
Download Electoral College Reform Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
Contents: (1) Intro.; (2) Competing Approaches: Direct Popular Election v. Electoral College Reform; (3) Direct Popular Election: Pro and Con; (4) Electoral College Reform: Pro and Con; (5) Electoral College Amendments Proposed in the 111th Congress; (6) Contemporary Activity in the States; (7) 2004: Colorado Amendment 36; (8) 2007-2008: The Presidential Reform Act (California Counts); (9) 2006-Present: National Popular Vote -- Direct Popular Election Through an Interstate Compact; Origins; The Plan; National Popular Vote, Inc.; Action in the State Legislatures; States That Have Approved NPV; National Popular Vote; (10) Prospects for Change -- An Analysis; (11) State Action -- A Viable Reform Alternative?; (12) Concluding Observations.
Author | : William C. Kimberling |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 20 |
Release | : 1992 |
Genre | : Electoral college |
ISBN | : |
Download The Electoral College Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
Author | : United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 60 |
Release | : 1961 |
Genre | : Direct election |
ISBN | : |
Download The Electoral College Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
Author | : Norman J. Ornstein |
Publisher | : A E I Press |
Total Pages | : 126 |
Release | : 1992 |
Genre | : Political Science |
ISBN | : |
Download After the People Vote Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
The new edition of this popular guide examines how the electoral college and postelection processes work and includes a short history of contested elections.
Author | : Robert M. Hardaway |
Publisher | : Praeger |
Total Pages | : 208 |
Release | : 1994-08-30 |
Genre | : Political Science |
ISBN | : |
Download The Electoral College and the Constitution Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
This study examines how the Electoral College actually works, how it is supposed to work, and how it might be reformed. Robert Hardaway first looks at the Constitutional Convention, the Twelfth Amendment, and historical elections where the Electoral College has come into play, providing the historical background to the present-day College. Next he examines the electors themselves--how they are chosen in the states and the laws relating to the obligations of electors in casting their votes. The election of the president and vice president by the House of Representatives is also examined. Finally, Hardaway discusses and analyzes the proposed reforms to the Electoral College, including those before the Congress at present. Professor Hardaway's book makes a strong case for the preservation of the federalist principles incorporated into the constitutional framers' plan for election of the president of the United States. The book richly documents its case with examples from past elections, while at the same time providing the reader with all information needed to make an independent judgment.
Author | : David A. McKnight |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 446 |
Release | : 1878 |
Genre | : Election law |
ISBN | : |
Download The Electoral System of the United States Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
Author | : Carolyn Alder |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 134 |
Release | : 2013-04-01 |
Genre | : Electoral college |
ISBN | : 9780982823729 |
Download The Evolution and Destruction of the Original Electoral College Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
Why an Electoral College? What were the purposes and benefits? The delegates gathered in the Constitutional Convention struggled through challenge after challenge as they debated the best ways to establish the greatest framework of freedom ever known to mankind, the Constitution of the United States of America. Arguably their greatest challenge was to devise a methodology to select outstanding statesmen to serve as the Chief Executive. In order to select the very best presidents possible, the Framers intelligently designed a unique system to nominate the very best candidates possible. This was the function of the original Electoral College System. The Electoral College today bears only a superficial resemblance to the intricate system the Framers designed for selecting presidents for the United States. Their original plan as outlined in Article II of the Constitution has been subverted, perverted, obscured, ignored and discarded by the machinations of party politics. Today the Electors meet only to rubber-stamp what everybody already knows-who won the election. The Framers' system is totally unknown today. This book reveals the secrets of that ingenious process-a system that has remained hidden (or rather ignored) for over two centuries. Intelligent design versus evolution usually refers to the creation of man. We relate these same terms to the creation of our U.S. Constitution. Intelligent design requires much thought and consideration; evolution has no such restrictions. In bringing to light the ingenious design of the original Electoral College, this book meticulously examines the words of the Constitution, quotes from the Constitutional Convention, and Alexander Hamilton's defense of the system as expressed in Federalist No. 68. After the Framers intelligently designed the Electoral College System, the forces of evolution started their destructive processes. The rise to power of the political parties and the incompatibility of the party paradigm with the original Constitution, are exposed. This book details the inconsistencies apparent in the quickly designed and hastily ratified 12th Amendment. Samples of current State statutes forbidding the independence of Electors and binding them to the political parties are also shown. Discover, in a concise text, essential principles required to restore American constitutional federalism: Direct vs. indirect elections Representative republic vs. democracy The role of independent electors Electoral votes are nominating votes Principle of constitutional federalism How the unique process was subverted by political parties How the 12th Amendment institutionalized party usurpation The empty shell we have today The new April 2013 edition includes extensive footnotes, index, and endorsements from constitutional professors, lawyers, scholars and patriots. Those who want to restore the principles of freedom and limited government, as established by the Framers, will find this book indispensable.
Author | : Alexander S. Belenky |
Publisher | : Springer |
Total Pages | : 165 |
Release | : 2016-11-15 |
Genre | : Law |
ISBN | : 3319446967 |
Download Who Will Be the Next President? Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book addresses the peculiarities of the current presidential election system not yet addressed in other publications. It argues that any rules for electing a President that may have a chance to replace the current ones should provide an equal representation of states as equal members of the Union, and of the nation as a whole. This book analyzes the National Popular Vote plan and shows that this plan may violate the Supreme Court decisions on the equality of votes cast in statewide popular elections held to choose state electors. That is, the National Popular Vote plan may violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The book proposes a new election system in which the will of the states and the will of the nation as a whole are determined by direct popular elections for President and Vice President in the 50 states and in D.C. This system a) would elect President a candidate who is the choice of both the nation as a whole and of the states as equal members of the Union, b) would let the current system elect a President only if the nation as a whole and the states as equal members of the Union fail to agree on a common candidate, and c) would encourage the candidates to campaign nationwide. The second edition has been updated to include a proposal on how to make established non-major party presidential candidates and independent candidates welcome participants in national televised presidential debates with the major-party candidates.