"The well-meaning but uninformed people." -Jefferson

The idea of how to elect a suitable president during the Constitutional Convention in 1787 was fiercely debated. The election of the President needed to be in accordance with the Revolution’s ideas of republicanism, independence, and virtue. These beliefs produced three main outcomes that would lead to an election of the Commander in Chief (Gregg 3). A direct popular vote was debated but shunned because the Founding Fathers thought the American populace did not know enough about a candidate to elect a virtuous politician. A vote by the legislature was also debated, but then the issue of independence was brought up. Would the President act to benefit the country or his own interests knowing that it was personal favors in Congress that got him the esteemed job?

Many statesmen were also concerned with the issue of power. It was a theme during the debates that the citizens of the smaller states would not have equal representation in the government. The Founders’ republican ideas were symbiotic to this fear and stressed the proportional representation of the populace (Longley and Peirce 13). The election of a tyrant was another fear that drove the convention towards the third and final debate, the idea of an intermediary election (Longley and Peirce 18).

James Wilson proposed the idea in early June, months before any actual decision was agreed upon by the convention in September (Longley and Peirce 18- 19). The idea agreed upon became Article II of the Constitution. The states would have a minimum of 3 electoral votes, two for the number of senators, and one to represent the people. The number of electors representing the people is based upon the results of each census. These electors would then meet as the Electoral College to elect the President by a majority vote. The process is structured so the common people suggest to their selected electors a way to vote in the College. Therefore fellow politicians are able to judge the candidate’s character as a virtuous and independent person.

Here is a link to a CNN video clip from 2004 entitled Electoral College 101.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2004/10/25/morawski.electoral.college.101.cnn?iref=videosearch

Introduction

The purpose of this blog is to determine the historical and present use of the Electoral College in the United States of America. As one of the many democratic nations in the world who take it upon themselves to spread democracy, I do not understand why the American government believes the populace is still incapable of choosing a decent president. I have realized the United States is one of the only, if not the only, democratic nations that does not directly elect its president. Although the Electoral College has only elected two presidents contrary to the popular vote, I believe it is an anomaly that this nation uses a system from the late Eighteenth Century to elect their Commander in Chief. With the highly important Presidential Election just around the corner, and my growing concern for the future of the nation, I believe this topic is greatly relevant to registered voters who may not even realize what happens to their vote on November 4th.

I hope to learn the original purpose of the Electoral College, and why the Founding Fathers supported this bureaucratic institution. I will achieve this by looking at the social beliefs of the country at the time of its conception and the feelings of people in modern society who both support and dispute the College. I also hope to learn more about the bill in Congress addressing the Electoral College and its future in presidential elections.