Author: Robert W. Bennett Publisher: ISBN: 9781503625976 Category : LAW Languages : en Pages : 288
Book Description
Taming the Electoral College explores poorly understood aspects of the electoral college, including two possibilities in particular that could pose the most serious danger for American democracy. These are, first, determination of the president by "faithless electors" who ignore the popular vote in their states, and, second, choice of the president in the House of Representatives, which is required if no electoral college majority votes in favor of a single candidate. In any given election, neither of these outcomes is likely, but the 2000 election showed that we would do well to take both of them seriously and take action now to prevent them from occurring. Both possibilities could be dealt with by constitutional amendment, but amendment is difficult to achieve, particularly as it bears on the electoral college process. This engaging book instead offers nonconstitutional solutions to the two possibilities, as well as to a variety of other problems that lurk in the shadows of the electoral college process. It also offers a way to work toward popular election of the president without a constitutional amendment.
Author: Robert William Bennett Publisher: Stanford University Press ISBN: 9780804754101 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 292
Book Description
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: Alexander Keyssar Publisher: Harvard University Press ISBN: 9780674278592 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 544
Book Description
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...This is a brilliant contribution to a critical current debate, just in time to help guide effective reform.” —Lawrence Lessig, author of They Don’t Represent Us “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 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 masterclass 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 reveals 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 outlining the reasons for past failures and showing how close we’ve come to abolishing the institution, Keyssar offers encouragement to those hoping for change.
Author: Bill Petrocelli Publisher: Prometheus ISBN: 163388659X Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 121
Book Description
It’s a system that now fosters massive inequality in voting rights and opens the door to manipulation of presidential elections by foreign and domestic enemies of democracy. Electoral Bait & Switch is prescriptive, and accessible to the general reader. The current Electoral-Vote system presents a severe and growing threat to democracy in the United States. It has thwarted the will of a majority of the voters twice in the last five presidential elections (2000 and 2016) by elevating to office a candidate who received only a minority of the vote. This system is a distortion of the system envisioned by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and the other framers of the Constitution. If it is not challenged and overturned, we are likely to face a continual series of electoral and constitutional crises. The constitutional right of Americans to an equal vote in presidential elections is being violated by this system on a massive scale. The value of an individual vote varies as much as three-to-one from state to state, and there are no two states where voters have the same voting-power. The current Elector system discriminates heavily against minority and poorer voters. The winner-take-all method of allocating Electoral votes also results in large pockets of “useless votes” and a system in which where you vote counts for far more than how you vote. Most ominously, evidence is now clear that the Electoral-Vote system has opened the door for voter suppression and manipulation of elections by domestic and foreign conspirators.
Author: Tara Ross Publisher: World Ahead Publishing ISBN: Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 272
Book Description
Opponents of the Electoral College are swift to dismiss the institution as outdated and elitist, an anachronism that should be replaced by a direct popular vote. This book, written in straightforward language, examines the institutions role in selecting Presidents across the centuries and comes to a different conclusion the Electoral College protects our republic and promotes our liberty.
Author: Cari Meister Publisher: Capstone Press ISBN: 1543591388 Category : Juvenile Nonfiction Languages : en Pages : 33
Book Description
What does a college have to do with presidential elections? If it's the electoral college, a lot! Readers learn all about the electoral college and how it plays a part in our elections.
Author: Sue Bradford Edwards Publisher: AV2 by Weigl ISBN: 9781489696175 Category : Juvenile Nonfiction Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
The Electoral College makes sure every state is fairly represented in a presidential election. However, this means that sometimes a president can get elected without winning the popular vote. Find out more in The Electoral College, a title in the Debating the Issues series. These books explore some of the most highly debated issues today, presenting readers with an overview of each discussion, along with thought-provoking facts from both sides of the argument. Every title features informative text, colorful photographs, a map, and a timeline detailing important events relevant to the topic. Debating the Issues is a series of AV2 media enhanced books. Each title in the series features easy-to-read text, stunning visuals, and a challenging educational activity. A unique book code printed on page 2 unlocks multimedia content. These books come alive with video, audio, weblinks, slideshows, activities, hands-on experiments, and much more. Book jacket.
Author: Alexander S. Belenky Publisher: ISBN: 9781420848540 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 118
Book Description
Now Can I Cry? is a story that recounts the abusive life of a young girl named Scottie. It begins with incest, violence and isolation and ends with the birth of a ministry and resurrection of a soul.
Author: Robert M. Hardaway Publisher: Praeger ISBN: Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 208
Book Description
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 W. Bennett
Author: Robert William Bennett
Author: Alexander Keyssar
Author: Bill Petrocelli
Author: Tara Ross
Author: Lucius Wilmerding
Author: Cari Meister
Author: Sue Bradford Edwards
Author: Alexander S. Belenky
Author: Robert M. Hardaway