The Elections Process And The American Election Process

The Electoral College, unique to the United States, is where presidential electors from each state meet up after the popular election and cast ballots for the president and vice president (40). The Electoral College is essentially a compromise for the presidential election between the popular vote and the vote by congress. The United States election works through indirect elections; Americans go to the polls and voters will chose among slates of electors who are selected by the states party leadership. In the majority of states, the party candidate who obtains the popular vote will win all electoral college votes for that state, this is often called the “winner-take all” system. Electors in the Electoral College is comprised of 538 electors

During the course of the past few decades, the United States of America faced hundreds of issues that impact the nation’s view of leadership. Some people of the United States believe that the issues that face America involves those in office, while others believe that the issue is structural. In the case of America today, there is a momentous structural difficulty in our voting system. Furthermore, the most distinct problem that the United States handles today is gerrymandering. Throughout this essay, it will be made clear that gerrymandering is the leading problem facing America today because it harms the equality of citizens.

America is a land of the free and the home of the brave. In our democracy the citizens choose the leaders, Right? Wrong. In the House of Representatives and state legislatures, a practice called gerrymandering has been prominent since the early 1800’s(Barasch). Gerrymandering nullifies Americans’ right to vote and lessens the leverage of racial minorities’ in the election of our congressman.

The right to vote is indispensable to any democracy because it is the means by which citizens can collectively decide issues. Nowhere in the Constitution of 1791 does it explicitly guarantee the right to ballot box for women and minority groups, thus, excluding the majority from participating in the political process. Indeed, only 6% of the American population voted in President Washington’s re-election in 1792 (Lepore 2). Article I, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution defers voting eligibility to state legislatures (The Heritage Foundation 3), implicitly condoning the disfranchisement of women, minorities, and destitute whites. Although one can argue the Constitution of 1791 merely reflected the white supremacist, patriarchal society of its time, the reality remains that the significant groups were excluded from participating in the political process.

           The U.S. electoral system was created to give every citizen a say in who their elected officials should be, but this system has failed miserably. The right to vote is a basic right that needs be provided to every American regardless of such traits as political party, religion, or ethnicity. It is unethical to deny a person the right to vote and historically that has been a major problem in the United States. Our election system is completely corrupt and voter rights is not the only problem, strategically drawing voting districts is also a major issue. Our current electoral system is corrupt and unethical because of gerrymandering, the breaking down of the voter rights act, and voter ID laws.

The topic of race, redistricting, and minority representation in Congress has emerged as one of the most salient issues in contemporary political thought. The creation of so‑called majority minority districts has been attacked as unfair and racially polarizing by some observers and ultimately struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The study of race in relation to American politics and institutions, and, in particular, to the institution of Congress, has produced a wealth of research and literature in recent years. This scope of budding research ranges from legislative activity and Congressional voting to the electoral process and campaigning. This study examines the effects of

For instance, Wyoming has as many votes in the Senate as California. This disproportionate representation allows for the rule of the minority. In a Democracy it seems entirely contrary to allow a minority to influence the direction of the country, however, that is where we are at. In Madison’s Federalist 10, he expresses his concern for the rule of factions and also the rule of the minority. It appears that through institutions like the Senate and the Electoral College we have allowed, to a certain extent, the ability of minorities to sway major decisions. Furthermore, because of our attachment to past institutions that at one point provided a certain service which has now become completely arbitrary, we add to the rule of the minority. The Electoral College at one point provided a service to the nation wherein people would vote their conscious if they felt the Republic was under threat, however, this institution has become entirely arbitrary and unnecessary in the modern day. This institution exhibits the diagnosis given in America in Decay wherein the institution has failed to adapt to changing external circumstances. External circumstances pushed the Electoral College to become a mouthpiece to the people’s easily swayed minds. Arguably the Senate did not adapt well to external circumstances as well. External forces pushed the Senate to become more democratic through the 17th

The United States is a country anchored on the principle of inclusivity and mutual respect. The country has a dark past characterized with instances of racial profiling and discrimination which culminated into civil unrests realized in the mid-20th century. Moving forward, the country adopted strategic frameworks that were to guide towards a new era devoid of discrimination. The aspect of political participation was one fundamental instrument that was subsequently integrated into the American social dynamics. The enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 sought to empower the minority groups to participate in the electoral processes, and to eliminate the barriers that existed in the political landscape. Some of the achievements of the act

In politics, racial and ethnic backgrounds tend to outline the outcomes of public policies- especially in minority communities. Minorities in the United States yearly increase due to both legal and illegal immigration (Shaw et al. 332). The trend will continue and by the middle of the 21st century, the minority population, cumulatively, will surpass the so-called White majority in the United States. The definitions of pluralism and two-tiered pluralism differ between the person’s race and ethnic backgrounds. As for the minorities, it may both bring some advantages and as well as disadvantages in public participation and the passing of public policies; however, in current times, two-tiered pluralism is becoming more dominant in politics as the racial divide within the United States continues to worsen.

Democratic theory supposes that there is at least some kind of association between the votes taken by members of Congress and the political preferences of who they are representing. Based on each Congress member’s constituency, elected officials can make decisions by representing their constituency’s political preferences. However, most representatives of a few different types are not as responsive, or are not even responsive at all, to certain groups of people due to reasons such as what income level those groups are. This level of responsiveness is unfair and inappropriate for having an accurate representation of what a constituency really needs. Elected officials need to acknowledge all citizens to gain an accurate idea of certain group’s

The Voting Rights Act 42 U.S.C. §§ 1973 et seq., decision is important regarding the laws governing voting rights and their relationship to minority voters. Its implication and effects however does not end within the legal realms and dimensions but continues through to society, culture, and human rights. The Voting Rights Act initially established in 1965 under Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration protected “racial minorities” from biased voting practices. It was a huge stride in the civil rights movement and a victory over harmful, archaic, and biased voting practices and traditions.

The research will examine voting rights in relation to voting right inequalities and the society’s effort to have an all minority groups included in the civic process. The research will look into several historical factors that contributed to voting rights inequalities and how the society has evolved to solve issues related to the right to vote.

Because of the influence that campaign contributions have been found to have on the outcome of elections, there is a possibility that political science research has overlooked a glaring gap: those belonging to an ethnic or racial minority are having trouble winning elections because contributors see them as a risky investment due to a lack of perceived “win-ability”, that is, they are seen as less likely to win against a white candidate because there aren’t many minority candidates in office who have succeeded at winning election. Even as the diversity of our country increases with each passing year, the diversity in our House is growing at a disproportionate rate without adequate answers as to why. I assert that the answer lies in the accepted knowledge on campaign finance that cites campaign fundraising as a critical component in who wins elections and who does

Historically in America, voting has been a relatively discriminatory practice. It has limited and deprived many individuals of many diverse races, ethnicities, and walks of life from casting their votes to select the individual who they feel is most educated, and skilled to represent their interests. Not only has this been proven to be wrong by discriminating minority groups in voting, it also has proved to be a process, which minimizes the largest growing demographics in the country. Furthermore, with millennials growing to become more politically active, minority groups are becoming more politically involved than ever. Taking this into account an important question that is raised by the author William Eskridge in his book “Legislation and Statutory Interpretation” is “Would minorities be better off with more representatives who had to pay attention to their interests because they are a powerful and organized constituency, rather than with a few representatives of minority districts who specialize in protecting only their interests?” (Eskridge,Frickley,& Garrett, 2006, pp.55).

The election process in the United States is a valuable process to the election of the proper officials to satisfy the people. The people run the country which is why we live in freedom because we control what happens with major decisions by choosing whom we want to decide these decisions. The whole country goes to vote on a certain day and by the end of that day we will vote to select who will run the country, state, county, or city political positions. The most complex decision and one with the biggest impact are selecting who the President of the United States shall be. We examine what their views are and who would do a better job. Then vote in our respected states with a certain number of electoral votes