POLSCI 318 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Electoral College, Direct Democracy
4 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Congress and the President
11.04.16 Lecture Notes – Electoral College
Problem: Winner-takes-all system makes it strategic for candidates to concentrate much of their energy on
swing states, which in this election is NC and FL and
x Founding fathers – electors are proportionally allocated with the exception of the two extra votes that
stand for the two Senates
x People are voting for electors, not directly electing the president
x Electors serve as the middlemen, promise to their party that they will vote for a particular candidate
x Betraying elector possibility in 24 states, but it is very rare
o In 26 states, there is state statute binding electors to what they promise
x In the election, candidates race to 270 (not the popular vote)
o (538 electors / 2) + 1 = 270
x The way states allocate their votes is by popular election
o State-wide vote, but there are two exceptions
o Maine and Nebraska allocate votes two ways: popular vote and popular vote within each
congressional district
o Can have electors from different parties in these states
o Since this rule has been adopted, Maine has always had unified electors
o 2008: Nebraska did split its vote – Obama won the 2nd district and gained a single electoral vote
▪ First time since 1964
o All other states are winner-take-all
x Electoral college imposes two major requirements
o Must obtain a sufficient number of electoral votes per state
o Those votes must be distributed around the country
o Ensures that there is a greater regional balance than there would be with direct democracy
x Overrepresentation of rural areas
o Electoral vote apportionment also includes the two senators
x One characteristic of Electoral College that is seen as its greatest strength as well as its greatest flaw
o Idea that it is not purely majoritarian – not a popular vote
x The only way to eliminate the electoral college is to have a constitutional amendment
x If the President were to be elected by popular vote, how would his/her dynamics with Congress
change?
o President’s onstitueny ould e ery similar to the Senate’s onstitueny
o Would campaign in highly populous states
o Potential of a third-party president (harder or easier?)
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