How democratic is the electoral college, based on the principals and Essay

How democratic is the electoral college, based on the principals and philosophies of the Framers of the Constitution - Essay Example In a bid to achieve this objective, USA has had various ways of electing the president. General elections and the electoral colleges are the main avenues for identifying or selecting the president. In every presidential election, the two methods are used (Dahl, 2001). However, the Electoral College method usually supersedes the general election method, that is, a person with the majority of votes from the general election may fail to be the president on the basis of the Electoral College method. The Framers of the American Constitution settled on the Electoral Colleges method as a way of deciding the winner of a presidential election amidst it flows. It is important to understand how democratic the Electoral College method is within the selection of a president. This would include how the framers would evaluate the Electoral College on the basis of their founding philosophies and writing. In addition, it is important to understand what the framers would think about American governmen t today and the intentions they had as well as the objectives and aims that they (framers) wanted to accomplish in establishing a new nation. Lastly, a deeper understanding of this concept would require a comparison of the theories and structures in the classical era with those in present day realities concerning the Electoral College. ... The constitution as prepared by the framers does not reflect their views, intentions, and accomplishments as highlighted later in this discussion. It is an event that whereas the framers would have wanted an American society where the executive is selected by encrypted electors, the reality is that the American executive is selected by the manipulated, partisan, political agents, and non-representative electors. The framers would view the American government as not only undemocratic but also formed on the basis of any protected interests. Electors are usually appointed by the states in correspondence to the number of senators and other legislative representatives (Williams, 2011). It is believed that the appointment of the electors aims at protecting the interests of the smaller states, which on the basis of the framers is against the bill of rights entrenched within the constitution. Proponents for the removal of the electoral system argue that the government is formed for the peopl e and not the states (Dahl, 2001). Besides, this was the main intention and objective of the framers. The objective of the framers in entrenching the Electoral College system within the selection of the president was to have men and women of virtue and outstanding characters to select the president. Many individuals such as James Madison continue to believe that the apportionment of the electors within the Electoral Colleges goes beyond the protection of American citizens as entrenched within the Bill of Rights (Williams, 2011). One question that James Madison asks is whether the less populated states have additional rights or interests that make them entitled to special protection against the unequal representation. In this question, it