The decision to abolish the electoral college is not a new one. Ever since the introduction of the Constitution, with the electoral college being introduced in the second article and reaffirmed in the Twelfth Amendment, over seven hundred propositions have been made to modify or abolish the electoral college. Even though these attempts have all failed, it is important to note that there are major flaws in this system, and the decision to abolish, or discontinue, this way of life should be reevaluated. The first and largest flaw of this presidential college is its potential for corruption and misrepresentation. Understanding the flaws of the system helps to know how the system works and where those buzzwords can be found. This is how elections and primaries work: there is an open or …show more content…
The National Archives states that the electoral college doesn’t fare well for third parties. They emphasise this through Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party of 1912 and several important third parties, such as the Libertarian Party, hosted by Gary Johnson, and the Reform Party, hosted by the influential Ross Perot. Another good example of a third party that also coincides with the knowledge we have gained of late is the Socialist Party, with Eugene V. Debs as the host. Third parties do poorly due to the state's power of deciding how electors vote, as well as other parties' assimilating the third wheel’s ideals. The electoral college promotes a two-party system by giving larger recognition to more prominent parties. This causes smaller, minority parties to grow less powerful and cause a lesser diversity of political opinion. Most of the third-party degression is indeed made by larger parties who would assimilate their ideals, usually to a lesser extent. While yes, this does happen, it still causes a larger misrepresentation, and more often than not, these adaptations are disregarded during the elected official's
Abrogate the Electoral College immediately. The Electoral College is a formal body of 538 electors who determine the President and Vice President of the United States of America. The system was established in Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution for the reason of keeping a balance between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and a popular vote of citizenry. Copious amounts of controversy have been surrounding the subject ever since its date of inauguration. The Electoral College should be abolished because it does not serve democracy, the presidential outcome is able to be altered by just the Electoral College–not the majority–and an appreciable amount of the U.S. population believes the Electoral College should be terminated.
Why has American political history been dominated by the two-party system? When and how have third (or fourth) parties challenged this status quo? The elections of 1796 changed the course of American politics forever. The 1796 elections were the first elections where the presidential candidates represented opposing organized political parties for a place in office. Political parties are alliances, “of like-minded people who work together to win elections and control of the government [...] for the ability to put their philosophies and policies into effect” (“Political Parties”).
When the Democratic System in America was founded in 1787, it was built on the sturdy ideals of equality and fairness. The founding fathers of the constitutional convention developed the Electoral college system with the best interests of the American people in mind, as the average person was highly under-educated and they did not trust them to make a decision as important as the But over time as society and even our democracy has changed, it has become ridden with flaws and corruption especially in the electoral college and voting system. The effects of the Electoral College’s inefficiencies oppose the very ideas our democracy was built off of. Because of the over-representation of small states, the broken promises of political equality, and
The electoral college is unfair to the third party because they don’t get votes from the electoral college. Based on the presidential election from 1980 and 1992, it have show that the third party don’t get electoral vote(Doc B). The third party have a disadvantage which make it impossible for the third party to win the election because of the “winner take it all” system. According to George Will, he say that it discriminate smaller party and only help the main two parties(Doc E). The electoral college supports a two party system, discourages third party, and thereby restrict choices available to the
Though this is a system that has been in place for a long time in the country, the Electoral College system needs to be removed because it has many flaws within it. One
211). If the issue of reforming or abolishing the electoral college is one that opposes the United States Constitution, then we have to look at how many times that has been amended. The Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times over the course of history for better or for worse. This amendment of the electoral college could play a vital role in the future of American democracy. If the electoral college was abolished and direct popular vote was put into place it would eliminate the influence of “unconstitutional” voting results.
The citizen would be voting for who they want instead of what others want which in the end is right. Another reason is the third party candidate can be a better option compared to the running candidates of the two main parties. If the two main parties don't believe in the same policies then the citizen will have a third option. For example in the current debate the two main parties have candidates that the people disagree with yet they still support them because of the two party system.
Some obstacles that third parties face include voters believing that their vote for a third party candidate is a waste, since that candidate is unlikely to win. Also, third parties usually focus on a single personality or a single issue and that can lead to less popularity among voters. However, the most significant obstacle a third party faces is the winner-take-all system, where in the majority of states, the presidential candidate gets all the state’s electoral votes with the highest percentage of votes. This basically takes all the chances of a third party wining a presidential election.
Third parties are successful but not in the way we think. In every single election, the third party has never won. However, third parties do represent social and economic interests not voiced by Democrats or Republicans and influence the two parties to address their issues and can often provide party realignment. For example, the extremely influential third party candidate, Ross Perot, won the votes of almost one in every five Americans in 1992. Third parties also have the influence to sway elections.
Third Parties in a Two Party System Darlene Singh San Jose State University POLS15B-14 The United States of America is heavily entrenched in a two party system. Most Americans can count the third party candidates they know on one hand- and for a good reason. Third parties are prevented from winning elections through institutional barriers, lack of financial support, and a general lack of faith. These barriers are undemocratic, and prevent fair elections from taking place.
This data demonstrates the low chances of a third party candidate being able to gain any electoral votes. The system clearly disproportionately gives out electoral votes, making it especially difficult for third party candidates to win any elections. Additionally, in the 2000 presidential election, a third party candidate, Nader, went up against Gore and G.W. Bush. While Gore obtains 266 electoral votes, Bush receives 271, automatically making him the winner. On the other hand, the third party candidate, Nader, received a total of zero electoral votes, even though he gained 2,882,955 popular votes.
If the U.S. got rid of the Electoral college, it could cause even more problems than the ones people had with it. How would we elect a president? how would we vote for one otherwise? Without the system that kept elections fair, the U.S. would have more problems than they have with it now. If the U.S. were to abolish the Electoral college and replace it with a different system or by popular vote, “To do so would require amendments to the U.S. Constitution” (‘NCSL.”
Several years after the United States came to be, the Constitutional Convention met to determine how the new nation should govern itself. The delegates saw that it was crucial to have a president and vice president, but the delegates did not want these offices to reflect how the colonies were treated under the British rule. The delegates believed that the president’s power should be limited, and that he should be chosen through the system known as the Electoral College. The Electoral College is a body of people who represent the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the electing of the president and vice president. Many citizens feel that the Electoral College goes against our nation’s principle of representative democracy, while others
In America, we have adopted a two party system when it comes to electing political officials. Throughout the years, third parties have come and gone. If a third party gains enough support, it is typically absorbed into one of the major political parties; whereas if it does not gain enough support it eventually peters out. Examples of third parties that have either merged into a major party or failed include: The Populist party which failed, the Greenback party merged into the Democratic party, and the Whig party was taken in by the Republican party. Each time a third party gains traction it is adopted by one of the two major parties returning to a two party system (The Bemidji Daily Pioneer).
Then, if you were to vote for a third party, your r preferred effectively-electable candidate, A or B, has a lesser chance of winning the election, meaning there is a greater chance that a candidate you would more greatly dislike is elected and so a vote for a third party is a vote against your own