Why the Electoral College Is Bad for America

Why the Electoral College Is Bad for America PDF Author: George C. Edwards III
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300249659
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
A new edition of the best-known book critiquing the U.S. electoral college In this third edition of the definitive book on the unique system by which Americans choose a president—and why that system should be changed—George Edwards includes a new chapter focusing on the 2016 election. “As the U.S. hurtles toward yet another election in which the popular vote loser may become president, Edwards’s book is essential reading. It clearly and methodically punctures myths about the Electoral College’s benefits.”—Richard L. Hasen, author of The Voting Wars “Supported by both history and data, George Edwards convincingly argues the Electoral College is anti†‘democratic, anti†‘equality, and anti†‘common sense. We should dismantle it, and soon.”—Kent Greenfield, author of Corporations Are People Too (And They Should Act Like It)

Why the Electoral College Is Bad for America

Why the Electoral College Is Bad for America PDF Author: George C. Edwards III
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300249659
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Get Book Here

Book Description
A new edition of the best-known book critiquing the U.S. electoral college In this third edition of the definitive book on the unique system by which Americans choose a president—and why that system should be changed—George Edwards includes a new chapter focusing on the 2016 election. “As the U.S. hurtles toward yet another election in which the popular vote loser may become president, Edwards’s book is essential reading. It clearly and methodically punctures myths about the Electoral College’s benefits.”—Richard L. Hasen, author of The Voting Wars “Supported by both history and data, George Edwards convincingly argues the Electoral College is anti†‘democratic, anti†‘equality, and anti†‘common sense. We should dismantle it, and soon.”—Kent Greenfield, author of Corporations Are People Too (And They Should Act Like It)

Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College?

Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College? PDF Author: Alexander Keyssar
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 067497414X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 545

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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...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

Let the People Pick the President

Let the People Pick the President PDF Author: Jesse Wegman
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1250221986
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 177

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Book Description
“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.

America's Electoral College

America's Electoral College PDF Author: Therese M. Shea
Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
ISBN: 140423358X
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 35

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Book Description
Examines the process of choosing the president.

The Electoral College

The Electoral College PDF Author: William C. Kimberling
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electoral college
Languages : en
Pages : 20

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Book Description


Why the Electoral College Is Bad for America

Why the Electoral College Is Bad for America PDF Author: George C. Edwards III
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009426257
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 279

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Book Description
Employing rigorous analysis and systematic data, this volume shows how the electoral college violates democratic principles and does not provide the benefits its advocates claim. With a new chapter addressing the 2020 election, this remains the definitive book on the unique American election system-and why that system should change.

After the People Vote

After the People Vote PDF Author: Norman J. Ornstein
Publisher: A E I Press
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 126

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Book Description
The new edition of this popular guide examines how the electoral college and postelection processes work and includes a short history of contested elections.

Taming the Electoral College

Taming the Electoral College PDF Author: Robert William Bennett
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 9780804754101
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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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.

The Runner-Up Presidency

The Runner-Up Presidency PDF Author: Mark Weston
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 149302258X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
An entertaining and important account of presidential elections in which the winner of the popular vote lost or came all too close to losing, focusing on the Constitutional Convention in 1787, the disputed elections of 1876 and 2000, the deadlocks of 1800 and 1824 (when the elections were thrown to the House of Representatives) and the close call during the tumultuous year of 1968. Author and historian Mark Weston explains how electoral votes emerged as a compromise between the free states and slave states at the Constitutional Convention, how they were inspired by an unusual method of counting votes in ancient Rome, and how this system played out in six presidential elections that shake our faith in American democracy. The Runner-Up Presidency combines an in-depth political and numerical analysis of America’s electoral system with rich narratives of our six strangest elections. .

The Electoral College and the American Idea of Democracy

The Electoral College and the American Idea of Democracy PDF Author: Martin Diamond
Publisher: American Enterprise Institute Press
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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Book Description