...The Electoral College: The Fear of Mobocracy Katherine Kinert Olympic College, Bremerton Abstract The Electoral College is a very important part of the United States Electoral System. However, very few Americans actually understand how it works. The lack of political efficacy in this country is a large reason of why some people do not think the Electoral College should be abolished. However, as Eric Black (2012) stated in an article on PBS News Hour, “Polls for many years have reliably shown that a majority of Americans would prefer a straightforward popular vote for the presidency.” Originally the Electoral College was established to prevent majority factions from having too much power causing mobocracy to occur. However, this system is outdated and the conditions that prompted the founding fathers to institute this precaution no longer exist today. Also, the fact that almost all the states use a winner-take-all system to determine which candidate gets all of the electoral votes for the state. Will abolishing the Electoral College rid the United States from mobocracy? Introduction The Electoral College is outdated and does not follow the true spirit of American Democracy. David Stewart (2013), a lawyer in Washington, D.C., states that, “Because most people knew little about public events or leaders from distant states, the convention delegates reasoned, they would not make a wise choice between presidential candidates.” Today, people have access to information through TV...
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...Electoral College Debate Introduction As said by Juan Williams, a journalist for FOX News, “In the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore got more votes than George W. Bush, but still lost the election. The Supreme Court's ruling in Florida gave Bush that pivotal state, and doomed Gore to lose the Electoral College. That odd scenario - where the candidate with the most votes loses - has happened three times in U.S. history.” Although forty-five U.S. presidents have been elected and this scenario has only happened three times, it still leads to scrutiny, questions, and arguments about the effectiveness of the Electoral College. These disputes have gone on for quite a while as to which method of choosing the president is the best option. The electoral...
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...The Electoral College: How Our System of Elections Needs to be Changed Richard Brookman Metropolitan State University of Denver Author Note This paper was prepared for ENG 1020, Section 031, taught by Professor Clark. Abstract Article two, section one of the Constitution details the creation and operation of the Electoral College. Each representative of each state, both senators and representatives, cast a vote for the President based on the wants of their constituents. This is the basis for the Electoral College; however our forefathers had little insight into the problems that can arise from crafting a quick solution to the problem of electing the commander-in-chief. Over the past 200 years, many changes have been made to the Electoral College when a problem has risen to give us the Electoral College of today. The people of the United States have seen what the Electoral College has become and want the election process to change into a popular vote system. The popular vote system isn’t the answer. Only a combination of the two systems will help to give fair representation to all of the states, while keeping the essence of majority rule that the people desire. This system includes a single vote for districts that are won by popular vote, getting rid of the human form of electors, and using today’s technology to make it easier to maneuver through the complexities of the voting process. The Electoral College: How Our System of Elections Needs...
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...birth with the creation of the United States Constitution. This Constitution eventually gave everyone a voice in their government albeit it through a representative elector at the national level and continues to make strides today in the political landscape through its evolution as a document. However, our Constitution is far from complete. Discrepancies between contemporary times and those in which our founders live in are cause for the changes and redress of our Constitution as to better fit it to the standard of the times. One such dated concept is the electorate system of the electoral college. Though necessary at one point, our current time of information sharing has rendered it ineffective in its task and I would argue, best replaced through the administration of a test to the voters in order to ascertain their...
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...1. Introduction 3 I. PART 5 2. Electoral system 5 2.1. Types of electoral system 6 2.2. Proportional representation 6 2.3. Party-list proportional representation 7 II. PART 8 3. Structure of case studies 8 4. Benin 9 4.1. Historical introduction and the electoral system 9 4.2. Elections to National Assembly in years 1991-2007 10 4.3. Political parties in Benin: profile, electorate and interactions 11 4.4. Conclusion 12 5. Guinea-Bissau 13 5.1. Historical introduction and the electoral system 13 5.2. Elections to National People's Assembly in years 1994-2008 14 5.3. Political parties in Guinea-Bissau: profile, electorate and interactions 15 5.4. The electoral process in Guinea-Bissau 16 5.5. Conclusion 17 6. Namibia 18 6.1. Historical introduction and the electoral system 18 6.2. Elections to National Assembly in years 1989-2009 19 6.3. Political parties in Namibia: profile, electorate and interactions 20 6.4. The electoral process in Namibia 21 6.5. Conclusion 23 7. Final conclusion 24 8. Bibliography 26 1. Introduction Electoral systems are considered as an instrument, which can relatively quickly and effectively change the shape of the party and then the entire political system. This is the general consensus of political scientific community. Opinions about the best and most appropriate electoral system are, however, very diverse and discussion...
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...project funded by the ESRC - address four key issues: the legitimacy of governments, patterns of participation in politics, the impact of constitutional reform, and the explanation for any crisis. Legitimacy There has been a decline in levels of trust in government and confidence in the political system. Thirty years ago, four in ten people in Britain trusted government to put the needs of the nation above those of their political party; today, just one in five do so. But much of this decline set in during the early 1990s, although trust and confidence have fallen further since 1997. Participation Turnout at all elections has declined since 1997, most noticeably at the 2001 general election, when the participation rate was the lowest since 1918. At the same time, levels of non-electoral participation have increased somewhat. Meanwhile, it is not the case that people engage outside the ballot box as an alternative to voting; rather, most people use non-electoral activities as a complement to participating at elections. One reason why non-electoral participation has not declined is because people generally feel as engaged with the...
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...Philosophy of Science (All Science, not just social science) During the time of the ancient Greeks—that is, Socrates and Plato, but before them and after them as well, the study of “philosophy” (Greek for “love of wisdom”) began. At that time, philosophy included both the natural and physical sciences as well what we know as philosophy today. The development of philosophy created a tension between philosophy, science, and religion. Remember that Socrates was put to death for allegedly questioning the existence of the official state-worshiped gods. This tension between philosophy, science and religion continued through the 1400’s and 1500’s when the European “Enlightenment” emphasized the concept that both “rational thought” and “science” was separate from religion. Today, they are still generally in tension. Whether these methods of gaining knowledge are consistent or not is constantly debated among scientists, theologians, and philosophers. Science=observation of the physical universe which includes (beginning in the late 1800’s) the study of human behavior using our five senses (sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell); Religion=the study of the “divine” (i.e., god, however a person conceives of that notion, and it’s implications) Philosophy=the study of questions unanswerable by science through the use of “reason” (rational thought) alone. Thus, there are 4 different philosophical views on how humans can obtain knowledge: 1. mysticism/divine revelation—a...
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...Democracy & Constitutionalism in South Asia: The Bangladesh Experience Gowher Rizvi Ash Institute for Democratic Governance & Innovation Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Today democracy is a universal aspiration. Even the military dictatorships and authoritarian communist regimes seek to cloak themselves with democratic trappings and pretensions. To judge by the list of countries those that have held some sort of ‘popular elections’ to validate their regimes, there are very few governments around the world that would not be termed democratic. Under the rules of electoral head counting it would perhaps be impossible not to accord democratic status even to states like Iraq or Pakistan or North Korea. The leaders in all of these countries and numerous others have sought to legitimize their rule through varying degrees of popular ‘mandates’ and ‘endorsements’. Yet very few of these countries would actually be considered democratic if they were subjected to the more rigorous tests of constitutionalism. Popular elections and renewal of popular mandates are essential, but not sufficient, conditions for democracy. At best, a free and fair popular election is one step in the process of a constitutional democratic government. Constitutionalism, like democracy, is a dynamic and complex concept that is constantly evolving. Although there have been changes in emphases and its nuances, the core of constitutionalism has remained constant over time: constitutionalism is about...
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...The Rouse Ball Professorship of English Law has been held in the past by a long series of distinguished scholars, from Sir Percy Winfield to my immediate predecessor, Sir Jack Beatson whom we are delighted to welcome back today. Their work has influenced generations of lawyers. They certainly influenced me. Before I encountered Criminal Law: The General Part,1 a great little volume by Professor Glanville Williams, Learning the Law, was my ‘Guide, Philosopher and Friend’ (as it still says on the cover of the latest edition, now edited by my colleague Professor Tony Smith)2 as I approached the study of law. Another Rouse Ball Professor, the late Sir William Wade, had a formative effect on my understanding of land law and administrative law both through his famous books, Megarry and Wade on the Law of Real Property (now edited by a former Fellow of Downing College, Dr. Charles Harpum)3 and Administrative Law (now in the hands of my colleague Dr. Christopher Forsyth),4 not to mention the lectures that I attended as an undergraduate in (softly be it said) the University of Oxford. Two wonderfully stimulating and enjoyable books by the Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor and * Rouse Ball Professor of English Law in the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge. This is a revised version of the inaugural lecture delivered in the Faculty of Law of the University of Cambridge on Thursday 10 March 2005. I am grateful to Mrs. Beverley Ireland and Dr. Kirsty Allen for providing...
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...● 01. 6 generalizations about institutions 1. People use institutions to serve specific ends. 2. They divide labor .3. Institutions save everyone's time and energy; in technical language, they reduce transaction costs. 4. Institutions exist independently of the particular people participating in them. 5. Institutions distribute authority. More power inheres in some roles than in others. 6. Participants will attempt to adapt it to their own purposes; but they are difficult to change. ● 02.How do institutions check tyranny? - checks and balances:Social pluralism, we divide government up between three institutions with all the same amount of power, ● 03.Why are institutions difficult to change? Path dependency: reliance on experience, constrained by status quo; solutions based on familiar institutions. Some participants are content with current arrangements and not willing to change. ● 04.Framers consciously designed a set of institutions for making it possible to do politics of this kind. The point is to design a set of institutions that control the effects of factions--by setting them against one another, but dividing authority among institutions ● Problems with the Articles of confederation No ability to tax , No central currency, No way to negotiate treaties ,No executive capacity, difficult to maintain public order, nation security. ● 06.Deals addressed by the constitution Path dependency: reliance on experience, constrained by status quo; solutions based on familiar...
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...UNIT 3C: REPRESENTATIVE PROCESS IN THE USA SECTION 1: ELECTIONS & VOTING Primaries: * Election to select a parties candidacy for president * Open primary: A primary for any registered voter, democrat or republican. E.G. Texas * Closed: A primary for democrats and a primary for Republicans. (Separate one’s) * Invisible primary: candidates try to gain support and finance in the year before the primary * Proportional primary: awarded delegates in proportion to votes they get * Winner-takes-all: Win the most votes and you take all the states delegates Advantages: * Increased level of participation from ordinary votes (30% in 2008) * Increased interest from people * Increased choice of candidates (14 in 2008) * Removing power from party bosses Disadvantages: * Turnout is usually low * Voters are usually unrepresentative of normal voters (tend to be wealthier, old and better educated) * Process is far too long and expensive (Obama in 2008 announced his running 332 before the first primary * Fails to test presidential qualities Increased importance of primaries: * Really the only route to become a parties President Caucuses: * A meeting for the selection of a candidate * Usually held in states that are geographically large but thinly populated (Iowa, North Dakota, Nevada) * Turnout is usually pretty low, and usual favour ideological candidates National party conventions: Formal functions: ...
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...Testing Theories of American Politics 2 Abstract Each of four theoretical traditions in the study of American politics – which can be characterized as theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy, Economic Elite Domination, and two types of interest group pluralism, Majoritarian Pluralism and Biased Pluralism – offers different predictions about which sets of actors have how much influence over public policy: average citizens; economic elites; and organized interest groups, mass-based or business-oriented. A great deal of empirical research speaks to the policy influence of one or another set of actors, but until recently it has not been possible to test these contrasting theoretical predictions against each other within a single statistical model. This paper reports on an effort to do so, using a unique data set that includes measures of the key variables for 1,779 policy issues. Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence. The results provide substantial support for theories of Economic Elite Domination and for theories of Biased Pluralism, but not for theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy or Majoritarian Pluralism. 2 Gilens and Page Testing Theories of American Politics...
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...Co-operation Commonwealth Games Federation Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Chairperson-in-Office Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group Commonwealth Media Group Commonwealth Ministerial Group on Small States Commonwealth Observer Group Commonwealth Secretariat’s Debt Recording and Management System Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan Civil Society Organisations Commonwealth Youth Corps Commonwealth Youth Development Fund Commonwealth Youth Orchestra Commonwealth Youth Programme Eminent Persons Group European Union Gigatonnes The Group of 20 major advanced and developing economies. Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance International Atomic Energy Agency International Monetary Fund Millennium Development Goals Most Favoured Nation Sport for Peace and Development Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights United Nations Development Programme World Trade...
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...Co-operation Commonwealth Games Federation Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Chairperson-in-Office Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group Commonwealth Media Group Commonwealth Ministerial Group on Small States Commonwealth Observer Group Commonwealth Secretariat’s Debt Recording and Management System Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan Civil Society Organisations Commonwealth Youth Corps Commonwealth Youth Development Fund Commonwealth Youth Orchestra Commonwealth Youth Programme Eminent Persons Group European Union Gigatonnes The Group of 20 major advanced and developing economies. Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance International Atomic Energy Agency International Monetary Fund Millennium Development Goals Most Favoured Nation Sport for Peace and Development Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights United Nations Development Programme World Trade...
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...The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School The Mary Jane and Frank P. Smeal College of Business ESSAYS IN POLITICAL MARKETING A Dissertation in Business Administration by David LeBaron 2008 David N. LeBaron Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2008 The thesis of David N. LeBaron was reviewed and approved* by the following: William T. Ross, Jr. Professor of Marketing Dissertation Co-Advisor Co-Chair of Committee John C. Liechty Associate Professor of Marketing Dissertation Co-Advisor Co-Chair of Committee Peter Ebbes Assistant Professor of Marketing David J. Huff Clinical Assistant Professor of Supply Chain and Information Systems Johannes Baumgartner Professor of Marketing Head of the Department of Marketing *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School iii ABSTRACT Political marketing sits at the nexus of two disciplines, political science and marketing, but is not entirely accepted by either. The present research looks at the origin, development, and evolution of political marketing and examines how the adoption of a political marketing orientation is impacting the practice of political campaigns. The role of political marketing in actually changing voters’ preferences is also examined, showing that grassroots marketing efforts seem to have the greatest effect, especially with undecided voters. Finally, voter segments are derived...
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