The Electoral College, Democracy and the Constitution

in #politics5 years ago

Democrats are saying President Trump was not properly elected because he didn't win the popular vote and that's not how things should work in a democracy. They are correct, in a democracy the will of the majority overrides the minority. It's been this way throughout history, and throughout history democracies have been used by the majority to subjugate the minority. People in the minority become second class citizens to be taken advantage of by the majority. Putting it plain and simple, democracy doesn't work.

Luckily, the framers of the Constitution recognized the flaw in democracy and did not pattern the government of the United States as a democracy, but as a republic. Institutions like the Senate and the Electoral College are not democratic and were never intended to be. These institutions were put in place to protect the members of the republic with smaller populations.

According to Census Data just over 51% of the population of the United States reside in nine states. These states are California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, and North Carolina. Just imagine, these nines states could in theory control the destiny of the remaining 41 states in a democracy. Similarly, 31 states (32 counting the District of Columbia) make up less than 25% of the nation's population. These 32 members of the republic that we call the United States are who the Senate and the electoral college are intended to protect.

The Senate puts these smaller members of the republic on equal footing with the more populous members. In affect saying each member of the republic is equally as important as the other. This concept makes so much sense that it was even carried into the United Nations where each member country gets a single vote rather than more populous countries getting more votes based on the population represented.

The House of Representatives and hence the electoral college representation has it's basis in the Constitution but has changed as the country has grown. The Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929 capped the number of Representatives and the number of electors in the electoral college at 435. In 1941 Congress permanently adopted the "Method of Equal Proportion" as the method for determining how the fixed number of representatives is allotted among the members of the republic. Details of how the representatives are allotted can be found on the website for the Census Bureau.

Although the method of allotting the 435 representatives and electors to the states is called the Method of Equal Proportion the system is also slanted towards protecting those members of the republic with smaller populations. In states with large populations the number of people per representative or elector is higher than that of lower population states. States like California, Texas, and Florida have in the neighborhood of 750,000 people per representative or elector and lower population states like Wyoming, Vermont, and Alaska have between 200,000 - 250,000 people per representative or elector.

These mechanisms have at their basis an attempt to avoid the problems of the majority having complete power over the minority that can happen in a pure democracy. Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez along with many others in the Democratic Party are calling for the elimination of the electoral college. Such an action is dangerous for all the states with lower populations and the country as a whole. Luckily to make the electoral college go away would take an amendment to the constitution requiring the agreement of three quarters of the states and is very unlikely to happen.

Mr. Perez recently even made the false claim the electoral college was not based in the constitution. Two possibilities exists. The first is that Mr. Perez really understands the function of the electoral college and is simply lying to gin up support for eliminating it. The second option is that Mr. Perez is ignorant of how the mechanisms of the government are established. Mr. Perez has placed himself in a situation where he is either a liar or ignorant, tough place to put yourself. I tend to believe that most people are basically honest so that leaves me believing Mr. Perez is ignorant. Maybe the person leading a national party to get individuals elected to the highest offices in our government should actually take time to read the constitution and understand the government his organization is trying to manipulate.

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He can Not study and understand! If he begins to actually think, he will become a Conservative! To remain a liberal, there MUST be no brain activity!

Our Founding Fathers wee Wise, and understood the poison that was, and is, Democracy! They protected us from Evil People with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights; for which I am forever grateful!

Petty Tyrants like this fool have been crashing against these simple pieces of paper for decades! Because of the unique ideas contained therein, they have wasted their time thus far.

You are spot on about the Electoral College, and you are also correct about the two possibilities.

I personally think they are LIARS, and I believe that they are actually evil, by choice; and will do Anything to gain and keep power!

>:(

I agree with you that some are liars. I do believe there is evil in this world and in this case evil is hiding behind faces that claim to want to help many in society. All they're really seeking is power.

Evil and Power seeking do seem to be in bed together these days; and these politicians are willing to say anything that they believe gives them advantage.

They have sold their souls to Satan, in my humble opinion (IMHO); and the lie is their only tool, since they are owned things! It is also why they continue to slide lower and lower, and despise all things that are Moral and decent!

We have allowed them to drag us to the precipice, and now must resist them; or fall into the pit of hell that they insist is our only possible final destination.

>:(

We just have to keep our resistance to a civil level. We can't sink ourselves to their level.

I will no longer allow them to win, just because they yell. Wrong is wrong, in spite of the volume. Like a petulant child, they have been winning just by yelling, for decades! This is NO LONGER acceptable!

IF We continue to allow these political BRATS to win, we are finished as a civilized world! They need the equivalent to a spanking, and Brats never appreciate discipline; no matter how desperately they need it!

We have moved past the time we can be decent to them. I do NOT intend to burn down their house, But I DO INTEND to tell them NO, and make it stick!

They do not understand when you are decent with them; they believe you have folded again! If you continue to be civil, these Brats will bury you!

NO MORE, FINIS! We can no longer allow the Kindergarten to run the country!

>:(

There are those that tend to interpret the Constitution according to individual gain.

And you can't fix stupid. Mr. Perez let his mouth get ahead of his brain. And the media buried their heads.

I still believe Mr. Perez is ignorant of how our government is supposed to work. You are right though, the media doesn't help when they give him a pass.

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