THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA

An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VII, Issue # 71, April 5, 2005
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
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THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE VERSUS MOB RULE
By Dr. Ron Paul

THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE & ITS FUNCTION IN THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL FEDERAL REPUBLIC:  WHY THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION PROVIDES FOR ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT BY THE FIFTY STATES THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE, RATHER THAN BY A NATIONWIDE DIRECT POPULAR VOTE -- HOW THE U.S. CONSTITUTION PROVIDES SAFEGUARDS AGAINST MAJORITARIAN DICTATORSHIP & POPULAR TYRANNY IN AMERICAN NATIONAL POLITICS
FULL STORY:   Just after the closely contested presidential election of 2000, when one candidate lost the overall popular vote, but won a majority of the votes in the Electoral College, thereby winning the election and becoming President of the United States, we were bombarded with calls for a federal constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College and provide for election of the President by direct nationwide popular vote. Liberal Leftist pundits argued that is "undemocratic" to deny the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes.

This argument, however, is hostile to the United States Constitution, which expressly established the United States of America, not as a centralized unitary state and direct democracy characterized by absolute and untrammeled rule by a nationwide popular majority, but as a constitutional federal republic with a national government of constitutionally limited powers. The American Founding Fathers sought to protect certain fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of speech, against the changing whims of popular opinion. Similarly, they created the Electoral College to guard against majority tyranny in national elections. The President was to be elected by the member-states of the American federal union, rather than by the American people directly, a constitutional arrangement designed to ensure that less populated states had a voice in national elections. This is why the Founders blended Electoral College votes between U.S. House seats, which are based on population, and U.S. Senate seats, which are accorded equally to each state. The goal was to balance the inherent tension between majority will and and minority interests, to temper majority rule with protection of minority rights. Those who wish to abolish the Electoral College because it’s not purely or absolutely democratic would, if consistent and intellectually honest, carry their argument to its logical conclusion and maintain that less populated states like Rhode Island and Wyoming do not deserve two U.S. senators.

A presidential campaign in a purely democratic system would look very strange indeed, as any rational candidate would focus only on a few big population centers. A candidate receiving a large percentage of the popular vote in California, Texas, Florida and New York, for example, could win the Presidency with very little support in dozens of other states. Moreover, a popular vote system would only intensify political pandering, as national candidates would face even greater pressure than they face today to take empty, middle-of-the-road, poll-tested, mainstream positions. Direct democracy in national politics would further dilute regional differences of opinion on issues, further narrow voter choices, and further emasculate political courage.

Those who call for the abolition of the Electoral College are hostile to liberty. Not surprisingly, most advocates of abolition are statist elites concentrated largely on the east and west coasts. These political, economic, academic, media, and legal elites overwhelmingly favor a strong, centralized national government, and express contempt for the federalist concept of states’ rights and a central government of constitutionally limited powers. They believe in omnipotent national power, with the states acting as mere glorified administrative provinces carrying out commands from Washington.

The Electoral College threatens the imperial aims of these elites because it allows the individual states to elect the President, and, in many states, the voters still believe in the U.S. Constitution, federalism, limited government, and a republican form of government. Voters in Southern, Midwestern, and Western states – derided as “flyover” country – tend to value family, religion, individual liberty, property rights, and gun rights. Washington elites abhor these values, and they hate it that middle and rural America hold any political power whatsoever. Their efforts to discredit the Electoral College system are an open attack on the voting power of the Conservative, pro-liberty states.

Sadly, we have forgotten that the states created the national government, not the other way around. The Electoral College system represents an attempt, however effective, to limit national power and preserve states’ rights. It is an essential part of our federalist balance. It also represents a reminder that pure democracy -- mob rule, or unlimited majority rule -- is incompatible with liberty.


LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Government & the U.S. Presidency

American Government -- Constitutional System

The Constitution of the United States of America

The American Political System:
Politics & Government in the U.S.A.

The American Constitutional System -- Origins:
English Antecedents

The American Constitutional System -- Origins:
Colonial & Early American Antecedents

The American Constitutional System -- Origins:
The Federal Constitutional Convention of 1787

The American Constitutional System -- Origins:
The U.S. Constitution -- Ratification & Adoption

The American Constitutional System -- Origins:
The U.S. Constitution -- The Scheme of National Government

The American Constitutional System -- Principal Characteristics:
Constitutionalism, Republicanism, Separation of Powers,
Checks & Balances, Legislative Bicameralism,
& Balanced Government

The American Constitutional System -- Principal Characteristics:
Federalism -- Fedural Union of States

The U.S. Constitution -- Underlying Political Theory:
The Federalist -- Selected Essays



Dr. Ron Paul is a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, elected from and representing the Fourteenth Congressional District of Texas. Congressman Paul is considered to be one of America's leading spokesmen for constitutional government, the rule of law, liberty under law, the private enterprise system,, free market economics, sound monetary policy, and fiscal restraint on the part of the U.S. national government.




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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA

An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis

Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor

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