Adventures in My Mind
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Apr 3, 2007
Let's Make an End Run Around the Electoral College
E.J. Dionne Jr.: Power to the people
Actually, I would like to see the complete demise of the Electoral College, but barring a massive Constitutional movement that is not going to happen. And certainly not anytime while the illegitimate King George III sits in the White House.
Originally, the electoral college was about balancing power between populous and non populous states. Think of the power battle between Massachusetts and Virginia as an example. Massachusetts was an industrial/merchant-based state with heavy population concentrated around Boston. Virginia was an agricultural state with power concentrated in the hands of a few powerful land holders.
Not surprisingly, James Madison, one of the primary architects of the Constitution and a proud Virginian, wanted to make sure that large population centers in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York could not dominate presidential elections; hence the electoral college.
This of course is an elitist attitude. James Madison was no John Adams, but as a wealthy, powdered-wig white man, elitism was not beyond him. It suggests that the will of the people is not good enough to elect a president. That a group of appointed electors knows better in deciding who should sit in the White House.
It is also an idea that has been totally turned on its head. The more populous states in the U.S. are now being held hostage by the rural ones. Here is an example from Dionne's article:No matter how small, every state gets at least three electoral votes. The three electors from Wyoming, with a 2006 population estimated at 515,004, represent 171,668 people each. California, with a population of 36,457,549, gets 55 electors, each representing 662,865 people. Every vote cast in Wyoming thus has nearly four times the value of every vote in California.Put another way, the few hundred votes for Bush in Florida in 2000 counted more than the 500,000+ votes cast nation wide for Gore.
This is not democracy. One person one vote is the standard for all other elections in this country - federal, state, and local. The Constitution provides numerous other opportunities for states to exercise their will without needing to bow to the majority. The presidency should not be one of them.
P.S. I am looking for more information on the state initiatives that Dionne mentions in his article that will make the electoral college confirm to the popular vote. I will post more on this topic once I get it.Labels: Politics
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 11:16 AM
