...by the people, why is our very presidential election in contradiction to popular sovereignty? This question has been asked frequently since our frequent since our recent election when Donald Trump won over Hillary Clinton, even though Clinton won the popular vote. Although some may believe that the electoral college is undemocratic and outdated, in actuality, the electoral college is still necessary to prevent the more populated states from controlling the presidential election. The electoral college was put into place more than 200 years ago by our founding fathers. The founding fathers were striving to find the fairest way to selecting a new ruler and best avoid having a power hungry dictator. Their solution was...
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...Electoral College, unless it’s an election year in which an increased number of Americans gain a general understanding of the system. Among Americans who have an understanding of the Electoral College system there is often debate as to whether or not America should still use the system that dates back to our founding fathers. These debates unearth topics such as how the Electoral College is the best compromise for our country, or how the system is outdated and was only created so the founding fathers could perpetuate slavery. Although the Electoral College is not a perfect system, it should not be abolished. What is the Electoral College? “The Electoral College...
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...According to Jon Wilcox’s article, Pro/Con: Should the Electoral College Be Abolished?, Joseph Sekul, a professor at Victorian College, believes that despite the fact that the Electoral College is quite aged, it grants greater representation. A popular vote could sway the country's thinking about concerns away from many important issues and towards only the issues of voters in certain areas. Since the majority of the United States population is settled along the coasts where liberal issues and ideas reign supreme, the kinds of issues politicians take action on could greatly change and become one sided. Without the Electoral College, each party would be able to campaign exclusively to a specific region of the country and still win the election in a Popular Vote system. For example...
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...POS/110 Democracy in America Democracy in America is something that has been the topic of the news for many years. It has caused many debates among several different individuals. Democracy, like anything, has its pros and its cons as well. In the following paragraphs will be the tip of the iceberg of some things that are debatable about democracy in America. One topic in particular that has been debated is the Constitution. The Constitution was written in 1787. The Constitution is a nation’s basic laws. It creates political institutions and divides or assigns power among governments (Edwards, Wattenberg, & Lineberry, 2008). When the Constitution was written all those years ago the founding father were putting a system together to make sure that no official received to much control and go power crazy. One of the best pros to the constitution is that the power is divided among government officials. As stated in the paragraph above, this helps to keep power equal among those government officials. For example, a president is only able to serve two terms in office and the president has to be elected back in office at that. This keeps new ideas and new people in office. Where there are pros, there are always cons. One con that comes with the Constitution is it is very hard to have the Constitution amended. There have only been a handful of times that the Constitution has been amended. The Bill of Rights is one that was able to be amended, and it was for...
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...Should the United States have English as its official language? Patrice Hobbs Instructor: Tina Miller October 3, 2012 If you are anything like me, when asked, “what is the official language of the United States”’ you would answer with no hesitation’ “English”. Many people believe that there is an official language of the United States. The truth is that the United States doesn’t have an official language. Why wouldn’t a country so large, a country that so many people call their home have an official language? Hopefully this research will lead us to an answer as to why we don’t have an official language. There are many reasons as to why the United States should have an official language. Here are two of the most popular reasons. More than half of the states in the United States have adopted English as their official state language. You must ask yourself, “if the number is that great, why not have the rest of the country adopt it just the same.” Another reason why the United States should have an official language is to be able to conduct all government business in one language. Having English as an official language could possibly eliminate a lot of issues that have occurred and will occur due to words getting misplaced during translations. It will be very important for the United States to adopt English as its official language. Having an official language can possibly help with how the country flows. It will allow all government documents...
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...In your initial post of at least 200-250 words, briefly summarize how the Electoral College works. Explain some of the main pros and cons in the debate about whether to keep or abolish the current Electoral College process. Also explain one proposal to change how the system works without formally abolishing it. Evaluate the various arguments and the proposal. Include at least two perspectives in your assessment: According the New York Times (2008) Electoral College 101, in America how the system works in electing our commander and chief, is generally the Electoral College was created by the founding fathers and most that doubt direct democracy because they didn’t believe that the President and Vice President should be elected directly by the people and congress. The Electoral College includes 538 electors from 50 states, and the state capital calls the electors. The electors according to the constitution are responsible for electing the President and Vice President of the United States. A majority is required of 270 to win of the 538 electoral votes is needed to elect our President. The majority of the time the electors cast their votes for candidates receiving the majority votes in that particular state. Electoral votes are primarily based on the number of senators and representatives. Article II of our constitution sets guidelines on how our President should be elected and how often it states” the president “"shall hold office during the term of four years." The season...
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...Founding Brothers Essay The preface of the book describes Ellis' intention of writing this book. He starts with stating that during this modern time, we often take for granted our freedom. Through the prologue, Ellis describes the difficulty the founding fathers face. He says that one punishment that these fathers would face is execution due to treason. Despite this, these men had managed to work together to create a nation that is one of the superpowers in todays world. Joseph also reminds us that these people all had different within creating this nation. We are reminded to know that these fathers are human and failure was a price for them to pay. In chapter 1, a duel occurred between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. Burr won the duel, while Hamilton dies. When Burr and Hamilton dueled, they were considered to be political rivals with vicious feelings towards each other. Ellis believes that these two had the duel to boost public...
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...By allowing the government to regulate and attempting to remove freedoms of this great nation that were intended for us by our founding fathers, we leave ourselves vulnerable to attack. This is not an attack that comes from the outside, some foreign nation on a warpath for the destruction of the United States. This is an implosion. Government versus citizens, citizens versus citizens. I do not believe this Is a time to have our rights stripped from us. I believe once you allow yourself to be denied the rights that were guaranteed to us, you only set yourself up to have more stolen. The second amendment reads, "A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed(U.S. Constitution, Amendment 2)". With that being said A militia is defined as ordinary citizens that are not soldiers, however, make up an army(The gale group, 2008). I believe the intended purpose of this Amendment was to allow Americans the right to keep firearms...
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...11/20/15 Did you know that the country of Switzerland has one of the lowest crime rate in the world? According to the United Nations, Switzerland has been ranked the lowest in the world consecutively for crime. This has sparked the debate of whether gun control is necessary to diminish crime and many pro gun advocates, look at Switzerland as proof that it is false. To get into this heated debate, it is important to understand the term gun control. Gun control is defined as laws that control the selling, owning, and use of guns (Webster's Dictionary). Like in any debate there are always two very different stance on this topic. PRO Pro gun control advocates argue that having strict gun laws will decrease the nation's crime rate. They also point out that having tougher gun laws will save lives by avoiding any more public massacres. To the eyes of a gun control advocate, it seems like a no brainer. After all, the less guns on the street will result in less gun related deaths. In the United States, 33,636 people have died due to a firearm in 2013 (Alpers, Philip).That number accounts for murders, homicides and suicides across the country. Thousands of people that year lost their life due to a firearm incident and the number keeps growing each year. Many gun control advocates wonder why it is so difficult to implement stricter gun laws in the world's greatest democracy. The misinterpretation of the second amendment is what's holding back the U.S. Many people that are against...
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...The second amendment states “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Our Founding Fathers believed that governments are prone to use soldiers to oppress the people. History had suggested that this risk could be controlled by permitting the government to raise armies (consisting of full-time paid troops) only when needed to fight foreign enemies. “We established however some, although not all its (self-government) important principles. The constitutions of most of our states assert, that all power is inherent in the people; that they exercise it by themselves, in all cases to which they think themselves competent; (as in electing their functionaries executive and legislative, and deciding by a jury of themselves, in all judiciary cases in which any fact is involved,) or may they act by representatives, freely and equally chosen that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed” (Jefferson). Gun control has been a highly controversial issue for decades. A vast majority of Americans believe that if gun control is strictly enforced it would quickly reduce the threat of crime. Many innocent people feel they have the right to bear arms for protection, or even just the pleasure of recreational sports, such as hunting. Americans have a constitutional right to own hand guns. Although, stricter laws and licensing may not affectively abolish crime, it will help to make it more challenging...
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...Same Sex Marriage Recently the discussion of same sex marriage has been a hot topic in both the political and religious arenas. This controversial issue has caused many citizens to take a solid stance on same sex marriages based on his or her morals, beliefs, and viewpoints. Popular reasons that citizens considered when deciding their stance are civil rights, religion, parenting, and financial matters. This paper will break down the pros and cons of each of the reasons listed and attempt to come to a conclusion of should same sex marriages be legalized in the state of Californians. Civil Rights The Constitution of the United States was written in 1776, which during that time there were no gender specifications noted pertaining to the recognition of a legal marriage. Same sex marriage debate is so large that in 1996, President Bill Clinton signed for the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which clarified that marriage is between a man and woman. The main reason gay and lesbian couples are fighting hard to legalize same sex marriage is so those couples will be allowed to and benefit from the same government, financial, and legal stances as heterosexuals marriages. Several states allow partnerships or civil union for same sex couples, however, they are denied certain rights given to heterosexual couples (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2013). Because of the growing debate of same sex marriages, President Obama administration said that it would no longer defend...
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...Christian Llerena BUS 200 Dr. Lasher 3/19/12 The Electoral College is defined as “a body of electors chosen by the voters of each state to elect the President and Vice President of the United States”. The Electoral College system has been a staple in the United States since the ratification of The Constitution, however there is much debate on whether it should remain or be done away with completely. In this essay, I will give a brief history on the Electoral College, how it works, and why it was created in the first place. Despite the shortcomings and limitations of the Electoral College I believe that it should not be abolished because it contributes to the cohesiveness of the country, it maintains a federal system of government, and it maintains the interests of minority groups. To begin with, I will discuss how the Electoral College works. The Electoral College operates by having each state allocate a number of electors equal to the number of its U.S. Senators (always 2) along with the number of its U.S. Representatives (varies from state to state depending on its population). Next, after all their caucuses and primaries, each party nominates their candidates for president and vice president. After that, the people from each state vote for a party’s slate of electors. Whichever party slate gains the most popular votes becomes the slate of electors for that state. Then, the electors meet in their respective state’s capitol and cast their votes for president and vice...
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...The history of the Electoral College was born by the founding fathers during the Constitutional Convention. There were roughly four ideas of how to elect a president to the United States. First was the idea of giving the power to Congress to choose the president, but detractors worried that giving the authority to Congress could create corruption, political bargaining, and foreign influence on their choice. Plus this could upset the balance of power that the founding fathers were trying to create with the Constitution. Secondly was the idea of giving the authority to the state legislatures. This idea was swiftly rejected for the fact that many believed that the president could be controlled by the State Legislature and decrease the federal authority and undermine the founding fathers idea of separation of powers. The third idea was to let the president be chosen by a direct popular vote. This was also rejected because the founding fathers believed that because of the lack of information for a candidate a state would just vote for a candidate from that particular state or region. The framers saw the possibility of at worst that no president would emerge with a popular majority sufficient to govern the whole country. They believed that for a best case scenario would be that the choice of president would always be decided by the largest, most populous States with little regard for the smaller ones. Finally, the founding fathers decided during the Constitutional Convention an indirect...
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...Ink The Pros and Cons in today’s society According Columbia Encyclopedia Ink is a pigmented fluid used for writing and drawing, or a viscous compound used for printing (Lagasse, 2014). Ink can be purchased in various colors, although ink could be purchased in different colors the mostly frequently used color in today’s society is black Ink. In the India culture ink is mainly used by artists and architects (Lagasse, 2014). In today’s society ink can serve many purposes such as the ink’s carrier, colorants, and other additives affect the flow and thickness of the ink and its appearance when dry (Ink Compostion Chemical Componet, Petro Chemical, 2014). From my knowledge of history the Egyptians started out by using ink on stones. As history moved on the Egyptians went from using ink on stones to using ink on paper to record their different manuscripts and from their manuscripts books were made. Throughout history, ink has been used for many different things. For instance our founding fathers signed the Constitution with ink. Ink symbolizes stability in society; contrary to pencils the ink in a pen is permanent. Ink has been most beneficial to society because it’s the power of the pen that makes society function. For example, ink is used by our government (President, Congressmen) to put laws into effect and also to change laws. Ink is also used to print our daily newspapers, magazines, posters, books etc. Ink has also been beneficial...
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...Legalizing Medical Marijuana Should Medical Marijuana be legal? Marijuana is medicine. It has been used for thousands of years to treat a wide variety of ailments. However the United States government says the marijuana use is addictive and it is harmful. So the government makes it illegal even though alcohol and drugs of nicotine which used in cigarettes are legal. Why is it ok that medical marijuana may be legal in some states but not in others? The legalization of medical marijuana in United States would drastically reduce pain sufferers in our society. Legalizing medical marijuana benefits society by helping decrease government spending, and reduce health care costs. Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known. Just think to ourselves, is it ethical to deny a person who is having chemotherapy or radiation for cancer, a way to relieve nauseaness and pain caused from treatments? Is it ethical to deny a dying person in pain, get the relief from pain and get comfort? Is it ethical to deny someone who has chronic pain or debilitating pain a medicine that can relieve pain? Who has the right to do this? Even though the government does, it is unethical. Marijuana is a natural alternative medicine to help all these issues. The medicines the doctors have to prescribe, for pain like narcotics, have acetaminophen in them which can cause liver damage or even failures are more susceptible to be abused and addicting. There...
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