political science
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DennisBrammerpowerpointpresentationElectoralCollege-GoodorBad.pptxElectoral College- Good or Bad
Dennis Brammer
Chamberlain College of Nursing
The Electoral College refers to a process of indirectly electing the President . (Cobb, W. N. 2020 p.103).
It was established by the founding fathers within the U.S. constitution (archives.gov)
Each state gets as many electors as its number of senators and representatives
It is focused on the election through the votes of qualified citizens and the counting of the electoral votes by congress to determine who is elected to the office of presidency (archives.gov)
The college plays a vital part in the electoral system of the U.S.A.
Electoral College
The establishment of the Electoral College is established within the constitution of the country. It is focused on the presentation of within ideals that are focused on electing the president in an organized manner which gives voice to the states in presidential election (Cobb, W. N. 2020 p.103).
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The process of the electoral college is made up of a set of electors that are selected from each state based upon numbers of representatives (archives.gov)
the meeting of the electors is purposed for voting for the president and the vice president and the counting of the electoral votes by congress. (archives.gov)
The college is made up of 538 electors
A majority vote of 270 electoral votes are needed to elect the president(Cobb, W. N. 2020 p.103).
Electoral College
The manner in which the Electoral College functions in the country is based on the interest of the country. The election of the president is normally done through the use of the majority electoral vote as oppose to the popular votes of the citizen of the country .
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The Electoral College was designed to give less populated states a voice in the electoral process (pbs.org).
This undermines the one person one vote in presidential elections
The president is elected by the number of states he/she won and not the aggregate number of votes won nationally / the popular vote
This system favor slave holding southern states in times past(pbs.org).
Slave holding slave could gain electors by factoring in a percentage of the slave population even though the slave were denied the vote (pbs.org)
Historically this system has given an uneven ratio of power, impacting presidential elections
Thinly populated state has several times the power of electing the president through their numbers of electoral votes
This results in increasing the power of swing states during presidential elections
Electoral College
The 2016 elections was a significant period within the country
It was a race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton
Hillary was the first female presidential candidate
The presidential race was tight with both parties having supporters in key states.
For example The 2016 Presidential Election
The 2016 election marked a historic transition of the country as it involved two interesting candidates. The confidentiality involved in the process is based observed as both parties had a significant following with Donald Trump becoming a new political figure in the country however , he was a popular businessman with an overwhelming support base.
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Hillary Clinton represented the democrats while Donald Trump represented the republicans
During the election Hillary Clinton won the popular vote (Bennett, 2016).
Donald Trump won the electoral vote; 306 to Clinton’s 232 electoral votes
The dynamics played an important part in explaining the role of the electoral vote
The 2016 Presidential Election
The election illustrated the ongoing controversy which fuels debate regarding the continued significance of the electoral college in our democracy
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Hillary Clinton won in 232 states
She had a popular vote of 65,853,625 people that made up 48.0% of the country (Galdieri, Lucas & Sisco, 2018)
Donald trump won in 306 states
He had a popular vote of 62,985,106 votes it made up of 45.9%
The 2016 Presidential Election
The number of popular vote and state won played a clear role in defining the role of the election on the country. it elaborated the part that the electoral vote played in the country. the election explained the dynamics involved in the democratic set up of the country.
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Trump had won majority of the states in the country
Although Clinton had won the popular vote she had a minority of electoral votes from the number of the states she won
The practice worked in favor of Trump as the electoral College votes determined the election outcome
It declared that trump had won the election.
The 2016 Presidential Election
Understanding scenarios in which the electoral college determines the final outcome of an election plays an important part in this respective case. The 2016 presidential election determined the presidential results in terms of the influence of the electoral college.
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Based on the The Electoral College system Donald Trump was elected
Trump had surpassed the majority vote of 270 votes
He had 306 votes that surpassed the required number
The contingency procedure created by the 12th amendment supports the matter.
The 2016 Presidential Election
The electoral college took up the positive measure of ensuring that Donald Trump is declared the president he had the majority vote of 306 which surpassed the required number of electoral votes . therefore, the influence of the college was essential in Trump winning the presendency.
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The scenario was not taking place for the first time
It was the 5th time that the event had occurred in the country (Galdieri, Lucas & Sisco, 2018).
It had occurred in 1824, 1876,1888 and 2000
The 2016 Presidential Election
The occurrence of the electoral votes determining the outcome of the election was not taking place for the first time. It had occurred in previous presidential elections, indicating the important role that the electoral college has historically played in electing presidents.
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The discrepancy that occurred between the electoral college and the popular vote was caused by solid swings (Galdieri, Lucas & Sisco, 2018)
The states of Texas and California were the solid swings that affected the outcomes
Trump had big gains in the Midwest as he won in five respective Midwest states
The 2016 Presidential Election
The swing states played an important part in determining the outcome of the elections. They provided a solid ground in which Trump managed to have a positive gain in terms of the electoral college votes.
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The 2016 election is just another illustration on the failings of the electoral college system.
Trump won by the electoral college to become the president
Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but did not become president
The winner of the popular vote loss the election; Democracy denied
The electoral college is clearly an anachronistic vestiges of a very dark past
Conclusion
Our Democracy is a work in progress, however while we hold out the becon of democracy to highlight the path across the globe, let us examine our own democracy. The electoral is some what paradoxical, historically it has ensured a smooth transition of presedential leadership for our country, given voice and representation to lesser populated states however, the one man one vote which defines most democracy is undermine. The electoral college; good or bad? You decide! In my opinion a referendum by the people is needed.
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Bennett, R. W. (2016). Taming the electoral college. Stanford, Calif: Stanford Law and Politics.
Electoral College is vestige of slavery, say some constitutional scholars November 06, 2016, retrieved from;
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/electoral-college-slavery-constitution
Galdieri, C. J., Lucas, J. C., & Sisco, T. S. (2018). The role of Twitter in the 2016 US election.
What is the Electoral College. retrieved from;
https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/about
Whitman Cobb, W. N. (2020). Political science today (1st ed.). Washington, DC: Sage, CQ Press
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