ABSTRACT
The President of the United States is elected by an Electoral College, which came out of a series of compromises during the Constitutional Convention. Many have argued that the Electoral College is a relic of a bygone era when ordinary people did not have sufficient information to vote for president. Others argue that the benefits of the Electoral College are just as useful now as they were during ratification, and a national popular vote would create far more problems than it would solve. In this chapter, the author explains how the Electoral College debate involves a central question in American politics; is the United States one country or a collection of states? The author then discusses the practical ramifications of switching to a popular vote for president, which is the main alternative to the Electoral College and is fairly popular among Americans.
