The Electoral College And The Constitution

Author : Alexander Keyssar
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 067497414X
Total Pages : 545 pages
Book Rating : 4.42/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College? written by Alexander Keyssar and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2020-07-31 with total page 545 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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
ISBN 13 : 1250221986
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.88/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Let the People Pick the President written by Jesse Wegman and published by All Points Books. This book was released on 2020-03-17 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “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 : United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee No. 1
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 354 pages
Book Rating : 4.92/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Amend the Constitution to Abolish the Electoral College System written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee No. 1 and published by . This book was released on 1951 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Thomas H. Neale
Publisher : DIANE Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1437925693
Total Pages : 34 pages
Book Rating : 4.92/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Electoral College Reform written by Thomas H. Neale and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2010-11 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 : Norman J. Ornstein
Publisher : A E I Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 126 pages
Book Rating : 4.79/5 ( download)

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Download or read book After the People Vote written by Norman J. Ornstein and published by A E I Press. This book was released on 1992 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 : William C. Kimberling
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 20 pages
Book Rating : 4.75/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Electoral College written by William C. Kimberling and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 60 pages
Book Rating : 4.01/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Electoral College written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary and published by . This book was released on 1961 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Robert M. Hardaway
Publisher : Praeger
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 208 pages
Book Rating : 4.43/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Electoral College and the Constitution written by Robert M. Hardaway and published by Praeger. This book was released on 1994-08-30 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 : Robert William Bennett
Publisher : Stanford University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780804754101
Total Pages : 292 pages
Book Rating : 4.01/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Taming the Electoral College written by Robert William Bennett and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the history and weaknesses of the electoral college and proposes reforms that could be made to our electoral process without a constitutional amendment.

Author : David A. McKnight
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 446 pages
Book Rating : 4.88/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Electoral System of the United States written by David A. McKnight and published by . This book was released on 1878 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: