America’s government, which was viewed as revolutionary when created, is often criticized for an array of problems varying on the political beliefs of who is talking. Some see measures which the government takes as half-measures while others see the same steps as a massive unconstitutional abuse of power. But, one would be hard pressed to find a single American who doesn’t hold at least one grievance with our nation’s laws. But, there are reasons why the American government was celebrated when created. A good deal of America’s policies do benefit a majority its citizens.
A majority of criticism lobbed at America is not unfounded. Elected congressmen before being a legislator seem to work in a limited range of fields. It’s rare for an elected official to have any real world experience in the fields they pass legislation on. For example, the head of the House of Representative’s Subcommittee on Space, Brian Babin, worked as a dentist and has a degree in Biology . Joseph Pitts, head of the House’s Subcommittee on Health, worked as a teacher and served in the Air Force previously. These legislators also come from a limited amount of parties. Of the 435 elected members of the U.S. House of Representatives there are no independent members. In the one hundred Senate members there are two, Angus King from Maine and Bernie Sanders from
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From state to state laws concerning voting and registering to vote can vary. Even once votes are tallied for elections there can still be inconsistencies, especially in the presidential election due to the electoral college. The electoral college is a group of representatives for candidates, called electors, that are chosen by the popular vote in the presidential election. Aside from a few exceptions, whichever candidate receives the largest vote in a state gets all electors from that state which makes states with large populations like California and Texas have a larger
First off, what is the Electoral College? The Electoral College is the process put in place by our Founding Fathers in which America votes for its President and Vice President every four years. The Electoral College was put in place to help prevent abuse of power and corruption by having a separation of government. The Electoral College is made up of representatives from each state based on how many Senate and House of Representative delegates that state has. These numbers range from 3 to 54 with the total number of electors being 538. This system has taken much scrutiny over time. According to Lenz and Holman, “The Electoral College may be the least-known and most misunderstood government institution in the American political system.”
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.
In November, many Americans will trek to their designated polling place to cast their vote for the next President of the United States. The U.S. government loves to preach that every vote matters, and that citizens should not take that responsibility lightly. During the presidential election cycle, states hold an open election in which all eligible citizens can participate. Citizens have the ability to vote for a distinct ‘ticket’, which consists of candidates for Vice President and President. Most Americans are relatively aware of this step in the voting process. What happens after this stage, though, is not as well tacit. It is at this point in the election process that the Electoral College begins to take effect. The Electoral College is used in the same manner for 48 states; with the exception of Maine and Nebraska. After each of the votes in these 48 states are tallied and counted, the major political party with a candidate who won the majority vote in any of those states is sanctioned to choose a panel of individuals who will cast the state’s real vote for President. The Electoral College comprises of these 538 electors. The number of electoral votes for a state is not solely based on population, they are allocated based on their representation in Congress. This means each state is given a minimum of 3 electoral votes (at least 1 representative and 2 senators) regardless of the population size in the state. American citizens cast their vote for President in November,
Since the electoral vote is partially based on the state’s representatives in the House, the most populated states have more votes. This can be evidenced above with the four most populated states in the nation, California, Texas, Florida and New York, having the four highest electoral votes in the nation. The question of to whom the state’s electoral votes go to is decided by an elector. An elector is someone who decides to which candidate the state’s electoral votes goes to, electors are instructed to award the votes to whomever wins the state popular vote. However, electors can go against these instructions. Most electors pledge to keep to those instructions but sometimes an elector will cast the state’s electoral against the instructions, these electors are known as “faithless” electors. Due to “faithless” electors, nine electoral votes have been cast against instruction since 1820. Thankfully, none of these votes changed the outcome of any election.
electors are chosen. All electoral votes in a state go to the candidate that gets the most votes, and
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 a body that elects the President and Vice President of the United States. When Americans endeavor to vote for the President and Vice President, they are actually voting for Presidential Electors who comprise the Electoral College. These Electors elect the Chief Executive. The Constitution assigns each state a number of Electors based on population. The number of Electors per state ranges from 3 to 54. In most states, all the electoral votes for that state are assigned to the candidate who earns the most popular votes. Maine and Nebraska are exceptions that apportion their electoral votes. In order to win the Presidency, a candidate must get at least 270 of the electoral votes. While winning the
The Electoral College is a compromise between elections of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. The presidential election is held every four years on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. During Election Day Americans everywhere casts there ballot to voice their opinion as to who should become the next president of the United States or so we think. While most people think that the election for the next president takes place in early November the reality of the matter is that when citizens go to the polls they are not voting for a president directly, but instead citizens are voting electors appointed by the political parties who choose the president on the citizen’s behalf in early December. The number of votes that a state gets from the Electoral College is actually the number of electors the state is allowed to send to a collegian meeting to vote on who the president will be.
The Electoral College is a group of people that elect the president and the vice president of the United States and to win the presidency a candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes within 538 electoral votes. When you cast your vote, instead of voting for the president, you vote for the Electoral College, they are the one that electing a chief executive. The Electoral College has to vote for the candidate that wins the popular vote. They swore to vote for the candidate who wins the popular vote because they don’t let the candidate win by the popular vote, in order to avoid any kind of collusion.whithin the 50 states, Nebraska and Maine only that allow splitting the vote upon on the popular vote within congressional districts. It is totally
The electoral college is the process to elect a president by a votes from states. (American Government: Institutions & Policies.) Each state is given the amount of votes, to an elector, based off the number of representatives in Congress. The minimum amount of votes are three, while the maximum amount of votes are fifty-five.(The Founding Fathers; a Reform Caucus in Action) States are allowed to choose the electors in the method they see best. Most states, with the exception of Maine and Nebraska, use a ‘winner takes all’ system.("The Electoral College: Enlightened Democracy.") In this process, the candidate who won the popular election is given all of the electors of that state. Unlike the popular vote, a candidate must gain the majority
Well the Electoral College is a process, founding fathers established it in the Constitution as an agreement. The Electoral College process includes selecting the electors and counting the electoral votes . The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. In which 270 electoral votes are required to elect the President. Every state is entitled to its own group of electors equaling the number of members in its Congressional delegation. That means one for each member plus two for the Senators.
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
Electoral College is a block, or weighed, voting system that is designed to give more power to the states with more votes, but allows for small states to swing an election, as happened in 1876. Under this system, each state is assigned a specific number of votes that is proportional to its population, so that each state's power is representative of its population. So, while winning the popular vote may not ensure a candidate's victory, a candidate must gain popular support of a particular state to win the votes in that state. The goal of any candidate is to put together the right combination of states that will give him or her 270 electoral votes.
The United States of America possesses one of the most effective and free government systems in the world. There is no question that it was developed by brilliant minds and has given the American people more liberties than some people in the world could ever imagine. Many countries still languish under despotism and deep corruption, and although the United States is prone to much political scandal as well, our country still remains minimally oppressive with regard to personal freedom. Some of the greatest strengths of the American political system have developed as a result of what we call “Enlightenment thinking” and early Americans' desires to live in a free country with a government different from that of Great Britain. Some of these strengths
In the article “How Does The Census Choose The Number Of Electors? Here's How It Works.” Rutherford-Morrison discusses just how the Census chooses the number of electors and what qualification need to be met. She opens with a brief description on how the Electoral College works. Each state has a group of electors, a Democratic group and a Republican group. The party that wins the majority amount of votes in each state usually votes in favor of that party's candidate. This gives all the electoral votes the state has to that candidate. This is how the candidate can win the Presidency without winning the popular vote. Rutherford-Morrison discusses how each state gets their number of electoral votes. It is stated in the constitution that the number