Graduating from the Electoral College : a critique on the electoral system of America

Our country is founded on democracy and the will of the people, but in the 2000 election the majority of citizens in the United States voted for the losing candidate. This result, of course, only is possible through the system called the Electoral College. This paper traces the history of the Electoral College from the Constitutional Convention to the present and examines its weaknesses along the way. While the Electoral College may have proved vital to the creation and existence of the early United States, its current form holds no such function or value. The argument I present is that the Electoral College has thus outlived its purposefulness and contradicts the founding principles of the Constitution and even of the twelfth amendment. Additionally, those that argue the Electoral College is necessary to uphold states rights and the representation of small states shall find that it in fact does just the opposite. Finally, I discuss possible reforms that could be made to the Electoral College and the likelihood of their fruition. This paper makes the case that the archaic institution is anti-democratic in that silences the voices of the people it claims to represent, and because of this should be abolished.