Rachel Nelson
Professor Lovecraft
PS F301
September 27, 2022
Debate 1
In the question of whether America’s president should be elected directly by the people (purely popular vote) or by the electoral college, Byron E. Shafer is correct in his vehement stance that the electoral college is a necessary institution of American democracy.
Shafer is correct for many reasons, some of which he discusses such as the polarization of contemporary politics and the need to have the popular vote filtered through the electoral college as a means to funnel it toward an “ideological middle” and how a true popular vote would a.) not actually reflect the desired outcome of the country, and b.) because a true popular vote would actually exacerbate party domination, not alleviate it.
Some other reasons to be in favor of the electoral college not unpacked by Shafer are that the electoral college can act like a sort of gatekeeper, ensuring that a charismatic demagogue who is a threat to democracy is less likely to be elected president, and that the individuals actually casting the vote in the presidential election are educated and invested in the current scene of politics in the nation and hopefully internationally.
In this current political climate in America there is extreme ideological polarization, creating extreme and narrowly-thought views on political issues on either side of the political spectrum. In order to find a more temperate, milder middle ground, filtering the popular vote through the electoral college ensures swing states are able to act as an “antipolarizer.”
The popular vote would also not actually elect the “most popular” presidential candidate as intended. With votes split between candidates, it is probable that someone running for president who garnered only a third of the nation’s vote or even less might be elected president where currently with the electoral college there is more likelihood of near half the country supporting the candidate that is ultimately elected.
Rachel,
I agree with your position on this debate, but I wanted to compliment you on the point you made about the masses being moved by a dangerous charismatic leader being a problem with abolishing the system. The leader would not have to have broad appeal across the nation but rather create a movement with in certain population centers that could drive a movement. I think the best argument for the EC is the protection it grants for the minority population centers over the possible tyranny of the heavily populated majority population centers.
Good post!
Tim F
Hi Rachel!
In looking at your points, it seems that they all boil down to the idea that it is a necessary evil. This is due to the fact that you don’t actually discredit any of the points made by proponents of abolishing the electoral college, chiefly that it disenfranchises a large swathe of the American citizenry. Rather you argue that it works as a useful stopgap between the people and those who they truly want to elect.
Given that, I believe there are certain actions that we can take as a nation that would address those issues you are concerned about that wouldn’t force us to rely on an inherently anti-democratic system.
We, as Alaskans, are quite familiar with one of these actions: Ranked Choice Voting. This system would go (and has gone) a long way toward alleviating nearly all of the issues Shafer discusses in his hypothetical scenario of eliminating the EC. Polarization is diminished, as the candidate who is seen as the least radical and most palatable to the public is favored. Additionally, no candidate is allowed to win unless they collect over 50% of the vote, ending the scenario Shafer discusses where a candidate wins with a plurality rather than a majority.
There are things that we can do in order to better our democracy without falling back on archaic and inherently damaging structures. The fundamental edict of American philosophy has always rested on the idea of self-betterment. To shun taking steps into the future that would clearly improve our way of functioning in favor of past ways which don’t even operate how they were originally intended to is against the American ideals of progress and improvement. If something doesn’t work, there are ways to replace it with things that will work without depriving us of what that broken system originally gave us. The Electoral College, a system which functions only due to its inherently damaging anti-democratic rules, must be overturned.