Why the Electoral College Is Bad for America - Hardcover

Edwards III, George C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300100604 ISBN 13: 9780300100600

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2004

Synopsis

Americans currently choose their president through the electoral college, an extraordinarily complex mechanism that may elect a candidate who does not receive the most votes. In this provocative book, George Edwards III argues that—contrary to what supporters of the electoral college claim—there is no real justification for a system that might violate majority rule.

Drawing on systematic data, Edwards finds that the electoral college does not protect the interests of small states or racial minorities, does not provide presidents with effective coalitions for governing, and does little to protect the American polity from the alleged harms of direct election of the president. In fact, the electoral college distorts the presidential campaign so that candidates ignore most small states and some large ones and pay little attention to minorities, and it encourages third parties to run presidential candidates and discourages party competition in many states.

Edwards demonstrates effectively that direct election of the president without a runoff maximizes political equality and eliminates the distortions in the political system caused by the electoral college.

About this title

About the Author

George C. Edwards III is Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Texas A&M University. He is editor of Presidential Studies Quarterly and holds the George and Julia Blucher Jordan Chair in Presidential Studies in the Bush School. His books include At the Margins: Presidential Leadership of Congress and On Deaf Ears: The Limits of the Bully Pulpit, both published by Yale University Press. Neal R. Peirce is a prominent Washington journalist.

From the Inside Flap

"An argumentative treatise, based on solid empirical data and sound logic, this book should generate considerable debate--the kind that the country should have had following the election of 2000 and Bush v. Gore."--Stephen Wayne, Georgetown University

"Dispensing keen political insights as he goes, George Edwards punctures the fallacious arguments used by supporters of the electoral college whenever criticism of that splendid anachronism grows hot, as it once again has."--Jack Rakove, Coe Professor of History and American Studies and Professor of Political Science, Stanford University

"The best book available on the electoral college. Edwards has crafted an entirely new and up-to-date book. He provides both an excellent review of the workings of the electoral college and an incisive analysis of the failings of the institution."--Marty Wattenberg, University of California, Irvine

Reviews

In this slim, analytical book, Texas A&M political science professor Edwards (At the Margins: Presidential Leadership of Congress, etc.) offers a robust critique of the intricate device underpinning presidential elections. Naturally, the 2000 election looms large here. The electoral college, not the Supreme Court, awarded the presidency to George W. Bush, contends Edwards, giving the final say to little-known presidential electors. He sees this as a troubling violation of political equality. The remedy? Direct elections, which are favored by none other than "Father of the Constitution" James Madison and a notably bipartisan roster of politicos, from Richard Nixon and Robert Dole to Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford. Edwards rebuts a phalanx of pro-electoral college arguments, including claims that the device protects the interests of smaller states and minorities. According to his research, once presidential candidates hit the campaign trail, they pay little attention to regional issues or minorities. Instead, they obsess over winning large swing states and virtually ignore smaller states and states with predictable outcomes. In this manner, some voters become more equal than others based on where they cast their ballots. Electoral college supporters may rush to the ramparts to contest this cogent attack, but as Edwards points out, any move to amend the constitution and set up a new arrangement would likely be stalled by divisive political mudslinging (with those who supported Bush in 2000 touting the virtues of the electoral college and those who supported Al Gore endorsing direct elections). But even if the current system remains in place for a while, this is still a worthy, well-argued contribution to the debate.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Someday, there will likely be yet another serious effort to get rid of the electoral college, America's weird mechanism for picking its President, in order to replace it with the method used to choose every other elected official in the federal government: a direct election. (The strongest such effort, following the 1968 squeaker, was foiled by a Senate filibuster.) This crisp handbook, by a political scientist keen to bring such a day closer, outlines the origins of the electoral college—which the framers thought would be a kind of nominating convention, with the final choice being made by the House of Representatives—and demonstrates the many ways it violates democratic norms. Edwards uses empirical evidence to demolish such common arguments in the college's favor as its reputed benefits for small states and for minorities.
Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker

Edition details

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300100604
• ISBN 13: 9780300100600
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224