poli sci chapter 10
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Explain what the Electoral College is.
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Voting system established by the Constitution for the election of the president and vice president.
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Explain the political compromise represented by the Electoral College.
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Direct popular elections and Parliamentary selection
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Explain what direct popular elections are.
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Where the public elects candidates by direct popular vote and the winner is chosen on a simple majority or a plurality vote.
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Explain what a simple majority vote is.
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Where a candidate needs to get 51% of the vote to win office.
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Explain what a plurality vote is.
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Where a candidate only needs to get the most votes to win office.
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Explain what parliamentary selection is.
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Where the legislature selections the executive from one of its members.
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Mention some of the reasons why framers of the Constitution opposed electing the president by direct popular vote
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People lack the judgment to select a candidate on merits, Instead, people have a tendency to elect candidates based on emotions, Lack of information to make informed decisions [this was the 18th century], Demagogues can easily influence the people.
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Explain what a demagogue is.
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in a democracy, a politician who panders to the desires and prejudices of the people.
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Explain what pandering is.
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Some who indulges or gratifies the baser desires of others.
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Why demagogues engage in this pandering?
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To get power
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Traditionally, how demagogues have attained power?
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by increasing animosities between groups that have traditionally dislike each other.
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Traditionally, what two groups' animosity demagogues have easily exploited to their advantage?
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Rich v. poor.
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How demagogues have been able to achieve this?
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By inciting class warfare.
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How demagogues incite class warfare?
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By claiming to be the defenders of the weak and poor against the \"evil\" rich.
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Are demagogues the defenders of the poor and oppressed as they claim they are? Why they do this?
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Not really, They are just making a political calculation as to the best way to attain power
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Explain what this political calculation is.
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They know traditionally the poor have been the majority in most societies.
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How demagogues befriend the people?
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By always claiming to be on their side, by pretending to care for their interests, by over promising things, even when they know they cannot deliver.
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How demagogues propose to solve society's problems?
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By redistributing wealth.
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Are demagogues really Robin Hoods? Why this is the case?
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Not really, They always keep the lion's share of what they rob from the rich, They only redistribute only a trivial amount to the poor
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What happens once demagogues are elected to power?
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they soon turn into tyrants.
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What happens to democracy once demagogues get power? How do we know this?
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they proceed to eliminate the same democratic process they used to gain power, a. History has many examples of demagogues. b. Examples: i. Cesar [rome]. ii. Hitler [germany] iii. Chavez [Venezuela]. iv. Mugabe [Zimbabwe]
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What class represents the best antidote against demagogues and class warfare?
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A class in between the rich and poor, which is the middle class
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What happens in a society divided between the extremes of a small rich minority and a large poor majority?
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The rich despising the poor and the poor envying the rich.
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Explain what makes the middle-class a stabilizing element in society.
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they do not envy the rich as the poor do
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What is the result of this class conflict between the rich and poor?
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Class warfare is most likely to ensure.
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What is the main consequence of the middle-class not being envious of the property of the rich?
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They are not constantly conspiring to take their property as the poor continuously do.
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What is needed for this class to create stability in society?
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a. The middle class has to be much larger than both the rich and poor combined. b. A large middle class prevents either of these extremes [rich or poor] from becoming dominant in society
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Why demagogues have failed to flourish in the U.S.?
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a. A large middle class.
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Explain why many of the framers of the Constitution opposed selecting the president by parliamentary selection.
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a. Having the House select the president would make him too dependent on the house. b. This would violate the principles of the separation of powers and checks and balances.
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What system they chose to elect the president?
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A hybrid system called the Electoral College
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Mention the two election methods that form part of the Electoral College.
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Direct popular vote and Parliamentary selection.
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Explain what direct popular elections are.
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Where candidates are elected directly by the public based on a simple majority vote.
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Explain what parliamentary selection is.
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the legislature selects the prime minister or president from among one of its members.
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Why the people elect the president indirectly?
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People vote for electors that represent each state.
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Who chooses these electors?
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a. Each state has the authority to nominate and choose its electors. b. In most states, political parties choose electors in the months before the election
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Who are these electors?
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a. State elected officials. b. Party leaders. c. Persons who have a personal or political affiliation with the presidential candidate.
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What happens when voters go to the polls on Election Day?
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a. Ballots list the names of presidential candidates. b. However, voters within the 50 states and D.C. actually are voting for their state's electors.
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Mention the two types of votes that form part of the Electoral College.
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a. Popular vote. b. Electoral vote
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Explain what electoral votes are.
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Each state has a certain number of electoral votes that count towards the election of the president.
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Explain what the popular vote is.
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The public elects candidates by majority vote.
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How many electoral votes the Electoral College has?
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538
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Where these electoral votes come from?
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a. 435 House of Representatives b. 100 Senate c. 3 D.C.
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What Amendment gives DC the right to electoral votes?
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23rd
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Explain what the 23rd Amendment is.
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a. For the purpose of the EC, DC is entitled to senators and representatives as if the District where a state. b. However, in not event can DC have more electoral votes that the least populated state.
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How many electoral votes the least populated state[s] has?
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a. 3. b. Therefore, DC gets 3 votes.
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How many electoral votes each state has?
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Each state has votes equal to its total number of U.S. House members plus its 2 senators.
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How many Electoral College votes Texas has?
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a. US House members = 36. b. US Senate members = 2. c. Total = 38.
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What states have the largest number of electoral votes?
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a. California - 55 b. Texas - 38. c. New York - 29. d. Florida - 29. e. Pennsylvania - 20. f. Illinois - 20. g. Ohio - 18
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How many electoral votes are required to win the presidency?
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Simple majority - 270 out of 538.
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What role the popular vote has in the Electoral College? How is this determined?
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Determines which candidate wins the electoral votes of each state, By the winner take all system
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Explain what a winner-take-all system is.
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a. The candidate with the most votes wins the election. b. The one that comes in second receives nothing.
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Explain how the winner-take-all system works in a presidential election.
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a. The winner of the popular vote in texas gets all of texas 38 electoral votes. b. The same process is repeated across 50 states. c. Eventually, the candidate that gets 270 electoral votes wins the presidency.
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What happens if no candidate achieves a simple majority in the Electoral College?
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The house of representatives choose the president.
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Explain how the House of Representatives choose the president. Has this ever happened before?
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a. The top three vote getters are selected. b. Each state is allowed one vote. c. The candidate with the most votes becomes president. a. 2 times. b. 1800 - Thomas Jefferson over aaron burr. c. 1824 john quincy adams over Andrew Jackson.
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Traditionally, have the electoral and popular vote been parallel to each other?
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Yes.
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Has there ever been a case when different presidential candidates have won the electoral and popular vote? Mention the elections when this happened.
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3 times, a. 1876 - Rutherford B. Hayes [EV] v. Samuel J. Tilden [PV]. b. 1888 - Benjamin Harrison [EV] v. Grover Cleveland [PV]. c. 2000 - Bush [EV] v. Gore [PV]
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Can a candidate become president by winning the popular vote but losing the electoral vote? Why this cannot happen?
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No, Constitutionally, only the electoral vote determines the presidential winner.
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Are the American people interested in changing the Electoral College for a system of popular election?
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No.
