The Inequality Of The Electoral College

848 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Social inequality within the us

When the United States of America was founded in 1776, our founding fathers envisioned a place of freedom, equality, and liberty. While there have been many huge steps towards accomplishing those three ideals, it is safe to say that in this current day and age, America as a whole has been falling short of the political equality once envisioned. Political equality can be defined in many ways but for the sake of this essay, political equality will be defined as the idea that every individual’s ideas should be treated equally (Analyzing American Democracy, p. 731). One of the most prominent displays of the political inequality is depicted through the electoral college, a group of 578 electorates created in 1787 to serve as a compromise between …show more content…

This institution is without a doubt undemocratic for a few reasons. First and foremost, it can belittle the popular vote and the violate majority vote as seen in the 2000 and 2016 elections when candidates Gore and Clinton won the popular votes respectively, yet still lost to Bush and Trump who won the electoral votes. The fact that legislators’ opinions can override the public’s further proves the notion of political inequality. In addition, another problem with the electoral college is that smaller states are overrepresented while larger states are underrepresented. Even within the system, equality is lacking so it raises the question of why this institution is still in effect. In my opinion, to have a truly democratic and equal voting

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Rogers Smith's Ascriptive Inegalitarianism

    1555 Words  | 4 Pages

    Historically, the United States has prided itself as the most egalitarian and autonomous nation in the world. Political figures and institutions have attempted to uphold the theoretical ideals of the nation, while in practice often fail to fulfill their promises to the people. This gap between our fundamental values as delineated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and our discriminatory practices such as slavery and gender discrimination can be found in competing political ideologies which purposefully exclude marginalized peoples. The framers built the United States for the white man; every other person’s rights came, and continue to come afterwards. Once one people’s freedom is postponed, the same oppressive strategies

    Read More

  • The Book 1776 by David McCullough

    1315 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout history, Americans have sought to spread the spirit of equality, which is believed to be the realization of true freedom. Before establishing this freedom, every American had only one question stuck in their head: What is freedom? Our country received it in the year of 1776 from the British through a series of difficulties and wars. African Americans defined it as an escape from slavery, while immigrants defined it as their acceptance into a new society. More yet, women of the women’s suffrage defined their freedom as their recognition into society and for their rights to be equal to that of every other man. These different perceptions of cultures/groups in America tied together to form an American view of freedom. Freedom is something that every American should be willing to do anything in order to maintain. We may have weapons of mass destruction, but when it comes to living in a peaceful, American lifestyle, our freedom is our greatest weapon.

    Read More

  • Electoral College is Wrong

    460 Words  | 1 Pages

    Electoral College is Wrong The Electoral College is the name given to a group of electors who are nominated by political activists and party members within the states. The electoral college really isn't necessary and should be abolished. There are numerous reasons why this is so important. With the Electoral College in effect, third parties don't have a chance to become the president, which isn't fair.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Electoral College Should Be Abolished

    1252 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Electoral College was created by the framers at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. They believe that it wasn’t a good idea for the people to elect the president directly because they did not trust that voters would have enough information to make a good choice. The Electoral College basically chooses who the next president will be since it takes away our freedom to vote. The Electoral College should be abolished because it’s undemocratic, the small states are overrepresented, and it hurts third parties. The United States of America is a democratic country that is characterized by the equality of rights and privileges.

    Read More

  • Electoral College Advantages

    1473 Words  | 3 Pages

    The American Society grants every citizen of legal age to vote in elections. The Electoral College System provides electoral votes to candidates despite losing popular votes. The Electoral College System is unfair as candidates who do not win popular vote can still win a presidential election. This system is unfair as it grants 538 electors to become the voice of 319 million people.

    Read More

  • Electoral College Should Be Abolished Essay

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    This process of electing a president is unjust and is not based off of the people’s views. In Document D the chart provided illustrates how some of the electoral votes favor some states over others; for example the twelve states listed and the district of Columbia seem to have a bigger say in the presidential election process than the citizens of Illinois. This itself is unfair because Illinois deserves to have an accurate representation of their votes, the same as other states do. This shows that the Electoral College undercuts the principle of one person, one vote, and therefore violates political equality. “It is not a neutral counting device... it favors some citizens over others, depending solely upon the state in which voters cast their votes for president” (Document D). Political equality means all citizens are equal and it also allows citizens to partake in state affairs, including the right to vote and the right to challenge elections. However the Electoral College violates the principle of this for the fact that it weighs some citizens’ votes more heavily than others (video). Generally it makes no sense for the people to vote if they’re not even counted, and either way it violates their rights.

    Read More

  • Abolishing the Electoral College

    592 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Electoral College today is a very complex system of voting and campaigning. When it was first created, the Framers thought the average citizen of their day was not intelligent enough to know who should be leading their country. So they created the Electoral College which was run by people who knew what they were doing. The Electoral College is a body of people who represent each state and they determine the president. The real question is: Has the Electoral College gotten too far out of hand where it needs to go? The answer is yes. The reasons are because any third party candidate running in the election has no chance of winning any electoral votes. Also, it gives too much power to the big states in electoral votes. Finally, it creates problems on majority electoral votes and equality of smaller states is diminished.

    Read More

  • The Electoral College: The Value Of The Electoral College

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Electoral College was a compromise between those at the Constitutional Convention who wanted the US president elected by popular vote and those who wanted congress to select the president. They believed that having it where each state would get a certain number of votes based on population would keep a manipulative and charming person out of office. They thought it would prevent bribery and corruption along with secret dealings. I don’t think that this is the case and it one of the reason I feel that the Electoral College should be abolished.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay on Electoral Colleges

    378 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the United States we are all guaranteed one vote per person. Everyone has an equal voice in electing the people that serve in the government. Every four years during the month of November citizens of America go to the polls to vote for a president and vice-president of the United States. Am I right? Not really. They actually vote for electors that then vote for our president. It makes me wonder, "Are we a democracy?" Having the Electoral College defeats its purpose. I oppose the electoral college for these three reasons, in election 2000 the president that lost the popular vote actually won, everyone's vote doesn't really count, plus the electoral college has disrupted elections fifteen times!

    Read More

  • Should Electoral College Be Abolished Dbq Essay

    495 Words  | 1 Pages

    The electoral college system is not only unfair but also outdated. People in smaller states are less likely to vote because they think their electoral college votes don't count or change anything. People in bigger states often vote a lot more than the smaller states, people need to vote and their vote needs to decide not the electoral college vote. If the popular vote was to elect the president than a lot would change in our history maybe for worse or better.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Electoral College

    1098 Words  | 3 Pages

    Approximately 200 years ago, our founding fathers of America began a tedious process of carefully designing and crafting an idea to solve the problem of selecting president. Soon, the idea of citizens indirectly selecting the president soon bloomed into the formation of the initial College of Electors. Although some individuals cherish this firm establishment, I firmly think the Electoral College fails to balance power and politically sustain our nation.

    Read More

  • Should Electoral College Be Abolished Dbq Essay

    599 Words  | 2 Pages

    This has made it very unfair to many people, because the Electoral College has the most advantage for candidates. The Electoral College is a very unfair system that causes any candidate to win easily if he or she has the highest votes, and makes the number of voters feel pointless. This has always been a big thing for the United States, as it’s people are bringing in a new person who would eventually lead their country into a good path. When it comes to actually doing the rough work, like voting for a new President, that would be an entirely different story.

    Read More

  • Rethinking the Electoral College: A Plea for Popular Vote

    1370 Words  | 3 Pages

    This was created as a form of compromise between the opposing ideas of how the President should be elected. The Electoral College is comprised of electoral voters by a total of 538 electors. This number comes from the number of representatives in congress for each state, 1 for each member in the House of Representatives and 2 for the senate plus 3 more voters in the District of Columbia. This means that the total eligible voting population in the United States is represented by 538 votes to elect their leader. This dilutes the representation of each citizen to the majority in its area, which is unjust and unfair for the minority, which should still be able to voice their opinion and let their voice be heard. The Electoral College was put in place because it was believed a popular vote gave too much power to high-populated areas. How is that different from creating representation in the Electoral College based on the representatives in Congress, since the House of Representatives is also based on population? Signifying that the population still has an effect on how the President is elected. Another view is that not every citizen, at the time white male, was knowledgeable enough to elect the Head of State without the Electoral system. This, even though some might still agree with that previous notion, should not be the basis why the Citizens of the “free world” do not hold the equal power in electing their

    Read More

  • Why The American Dream Fail Essay

    516 Words  | 2 Pages

    The ‘American dream’ didn’t envisage equality, in that equal opportunites necessarily generate equal outcomes. Justice, liberty and the inherent opportunities, enshrined within the Declaration of Independence - all men are created equal - are entirely different concepts. Justice can provide liberty, but liberty doesn’t provide equality but individual opportunity. When combined, they become abstracts; beliefs of what should be and change to government dependency and not individualistic effort.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Equal Treatment

    563 Words  | 2 Pages

    Equal treatment in society and under the law is the first step to equality in the United States, and then the rest of the world. Our country always seems to rise to the occasion when freedom and liberty are challenged, and this nation’s people pride themselves on that fact. So why shouldn’t the United States lead by shining example in the fight for equality? The equal treatment of all people is one of the largest steps society can make in the fight for equality, but that, of course, is not

    Read More

More about The Inequality Of The Electoral College

Open Document