Andrew J. Bertram
Andrew Goforth
English 101
November 2, 2016
Oligarchy in the United States In the United States today, our nations government is considered to be a democracy and that is what it has been for many years. Throughout the years, America has been turning into somewhat of an oligarchy. The literal definition of oligarchy is a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution. This means that the country is almost being run by a small group of people that are at the top of our nations wealth. Robert F. Kennedy, an American author and attorney once said, “We are now in a free fall toward old-fashioned oligarchy; noxious, thieving, and tyrannical . . . with a system increasingly tilted toward enriching
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Our elections are now considered a corrupt and torn apart system and “if our elections get appreciably more corrupt, extending the trajectory they were already on in 2012, the use of the term ‘democracy’ to describe the United States will be inaccurate in even the weakest sense of the term” (Nichols and McChesney). Just in the 2016 election campaigns alone, in between six and seven billion dollars were spent. All of this money was spent to win as many voters as possible to win the election. Some large businesses and other parties donate large amounts of money to the campaign that will benefit their business or values. The winner of the election then may pass policies to benefit their largest donors. It is not fair to the citizens who don't have the money to benefit themselves with policies. Every voter should have the same amount of say in each election, no matter how much money they have to give. The electoral college is the final say in presidential elections. “The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. Your state’s entitled allotment of electors equals the number of members in its Congressional delegation: one for each member in the House of Representatives plus two for your …show more content…
For this reason, in the following discussion, the word “state” also refers to the District of Columbia. Each candidate running for President in your state has his or her own group of electors. The electors are generally chosen by the candidate’s political party, but state laws vary on how the electors are selected and what their responsibilities are.” (archives.gov 1) Even though the electoral college was decided to have for equal say in the elections, the citizens votes really only rely on the votes of their states electors vote. One thing that goes for the voters is what “happens on Election Day. When the voters in each state cast votes for the Presidential candidate of their choice they are voting to select their state's Electors.” (archives.gov 1) The only problem with this is some electors go different ways than the voters expect them to. Some electors may be considered a democrat and vote republican. The same goes with every
The United States of America is governed by an oligarchy. Regardless of what children are taught every year in school, from kindergarten to graduation, the belief instilled in people from a young age that we are a democracy is an idealistic, and unrealistic view of current political affairs. Before delving into why the United States operates as a government dominated by the economic elite rather than a democracy though, the latter must be defined. Following the classical teachings of Aristotle’s utopian view of democracy, in which each citizen has as much weight in the policy-making that governs as any other and still maintains the rights to live as a free individual, it is not controversial to suggest that America has never been a
The Electoral College has been instituted since 1787 and is a group of people that elect the United State President and Vice President. The United States citizens do not directly vote for the president, but their vote is considered by electors that have pledged to vote for the winning candidate. There are 538 electors which corresponds with the 100 senators and the 435 representatives plus 3 electors for the District of Columbia. An elector is nominated or appointed by their state’s party and are usually well connected. Congressmen and high ranking U.S. officials are prohibited from being electors. In most states they follow a “Winner takes all” format, where the elector votes for the candidate who wins the popular vote. The Electoral College systems is outdated and illogical for the present and should be abolished.
electors are chosen. All electoral votes in a state go to the candidate that gets the most votes, and
The United States is no longer the democracy it stands for. Democracy stands for a government controlled by the majority of the population. The United States is no longer controlled by the majority. America is controlled by the powerful corporations and rich elite. The combination of an uninformed, disinterested public, a flawed election process, and an economy controlled by 1% of the population have all led to the formation of the American Oligarchy.
So what is the electoral college as defined in the constitution? The electoral college is a slate of electors who will cast the real votes for the president and vice president. These electors are appointed by the state in proportional amount to the number of senators that each state are entitled by congress as well as entitled representatives.. The actions of these electors and the manner of how they will be chosen is outlined by the Constitution, “The Congress may determine the Time of choosing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall
In presidential elections, citizens do not actually vote for the candidate of their choosing, instead citizens are voting for electors known as the Electoral College. The Electoral College chooses a President, and Vice President. The Constitution gives each state a number of electors that equals the number of House of Representatives and Senate, which totals five hundred and thirty eight and also includes three electors for the District of Columbia. Each state receives a certain number of electors based on population size. The results in a state determine which electors are chosen. All electoral votes in a state go to the candidate that gets the most votes, and after state elections appointed officials certify the popular vote of each state. Two hundred and seventy votes are needed to elect a President; the candidate with the majority of the votes becomes the president.
The Electoral College is just an indirect election of the President of The U.S. The Author of the Constitution created it this way so it's calm and easy for people to choose. in each state the voters actually cast a vote for a block of electors who are pledged to vote for a particular candidate. These electors, vote for the presidential candidate. Each state is apportioned a number of electors equal to the number of their Congressional delegation.
The Electoral College is the system used in America to nominate the president and vice president. The Electoral College entails Voters to go to the polls and they will be choosing which candidate receives their state 's electors. The candidate who receives a majority of electoral votes which is 270 wins the Presidency. The number 538 is the sum of the nation 's 435 Representatives, 100 Senators, and 3 electors given to the District of Columbia. There are many reasons as to why the system has not been reformed and in this essay I will elaborate on this further.
“The Electoral College is made up of 538 electors who cast votes to decide the President and Vice-President of the United States” (What is the Electoral College, 2012). In order for a candidate to win they must get the majority of the electoral votes which is 270. How does the Electoral College work? Every four years when people go to the polls to vote for the new president and the vice president of the United States, in all but two states (Nebraska, and
The Electoral College is the way the United States chooses a president and it has a rich and interesting history. The Electoral College consists of 538 electors, who are selected by the political parties in each state and voted for in the general election. “When the voters in each state cast votes for the Presidential candidate of their choice,
The Electoral College is a system that has tremendously impacted the American election for several years. This “system” is a group of people in which represent the U.S. states as they cast votes towards the election of the president and the vice president. The Democratic and Republican state parties are the ones who nominate who will be each state’s electors. These electors will then meet and cast their official vote for who they see better fit as the president. It is debated over whether the Electoral College should be abolished or changed.
What is the Electoral College? The Electoral College is a system that our Founding Fathers established in the Constitution in which representatives from the 50 states elect the President of the United States. The system begins with the people electing representatives to represent them, and then the representatives meet so they can vote for the next President and Vice President. The votes from each representative are then counted by Congress and are able to elect the candidate that has the most votes. According to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (2013), “The Electoral College consists of 538 electors…270 electoral votes is required to elect the President.” Every state has an
An electoral college is a group of people who represent the United States, who send out votes for the election of the President and Vice President of the United States. It has a total of 538 electors.
The Electoral College in the United States picks electors lawfully inside every state to choose the president after a presidential decision by the general population. Each state has numerous presidential voters, and the same number of as the delegates in both houses and congress. In total, there are 538 members of the Electoral College. The different states have various numbers of representatives. California has the largest number of electors, 54. This is because there are 54 members in the congress who represent the people in the state. New York has 33 electors, Texas has 32, and Florida has 25, Pennsylvania with 23, and Ohio with 21. There are advantages as well as disadvantages to the Electoral College, depending on how you look at the situation;
What is the electoral college you may ask. According to Oxford dictionary, the electoral college is; “(in the US) a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president.” You may then ask, “but don 't i vote for the election of the president and vice president? The electoral college is a group of chosen electors that vote for whom they see fit as being our next president and vice president. Their votes are then counted by Congress. Each state has a certain number of electors. For example california has 55 while alaska has 3. In all, it is made up of 538 electors. How they’re chosen is political parties nominate electors at their state conventions. The electors are usually state-elected officials, party leaders, or people with a strong affiliation with the Presidential candidates. The state will then need a majority of 270 votes to elect the