Summer POSC 103 Week 6 Question-What were the intended purposes of the Electoral College and what impact has it had on modern elections? Consider both the arguments for its preservation and the criticisms it faces from various perspectives. by Daniel Coolbaugh

dcoolbaugh1 — 2025-08-10 17:35:50 UTC

Please make sure to answer each part of the question. Answers should be at least three to five sentences long using proper spelling, capitalization, grammar, and punctuation.

2025-08-13 14:16:56 UTC

The Electoral College was intended to balance all the states, whether they are more or less populated than others. It also made sure that electors could make the final decision in the presidential election. In elections today, the system has pushed us to times when a candidate could win the presidency without winning the popular vote. People argue that it preserves the voice of smaller, less populated states. This would encourage protection against the dominance of heavier populated states. However, others say that it gives disproportionate influence to the swing states and could heavily discourage voter turnout if a state is firmly voting for one party. Overall, the Founders designed it as a compromise between direct popular vote and election by Congress.

2025-08-13 17:09:29 UTC

The electoral college system was created during the Constitutional Convention when the Federalists and anti-Federalists needed to find a way to make voting appeal to each party and balance the state votes fairly. This has impacted modern elections in many ways, with one of them being the erasure of the popular vote in federal elections. While not entirely gone, the popular vote does not determine who the president is going to be, rather the electoral college does. And since the majority candidate in a state gets all of electoral votes from that state, if 40% of the state population wanted the other candidate, their votes have no impact on how the election goes since they gain no electoral votes. This is one of the main criticisms that electoral college gets, since it uses an old traditional system of voting that was trying to appeal to both parties at the time. However, many still agree with the electoral college system of voting because it gives each state at least 3 electoral votes no matter the size of the state, meaning a small state still has a big input in the election. Simultaneously, larger states get more electoral votes, since it reflects the population residing there. Additionally, only a few times has the popular vote and electoral college vote not been cooperative with each other, since the electoral college is meant to mirror the popular vote in each state.

2025-08-14 02:24:04 UTC

The intended purposes of the electoral colleges are, balancing each large and small state to make sure that each vote counts which is preventing tyranny. Electoral colleges can also focus on swing states because swing states can go 2 ways such as democratic or towards the republican party. They also start arguments among the citizens of bigger states that smaller states have more of a say than bigger ones like California due to electoral colleges focusing mainly on the smaller states to make sure that the citizens know that there vote matters. The system has many critics that either support the system or does not, the electoral college system is still used today, so most people do support the system.

9sy5fmy27p — 2025-08-14 16:48:11 UTC

The intended propose of the electoral college is to ensure that presidential candidates focus on the country as a whole not just the states with the biggest populations. As political parties shaped and expanded we had certain states giving there votes to republican or democratic candidates most elections. This caused swing states or states who aren’t tied to a singular political party. They’re the focus of most campaigns as the candidates belive they know how the other states will vote. This is the concern for the current electoral college as it’s beloved to become unfairly focused on swings states. However some still belive it should be kept as it keeps the focus from the larger states.

2025-08-14 21:48:36 UTC

The Electoral College was originally designed to balance the influence between populous and less populous states, protect the interests of smaller states, and serve as a buffer between the public and the final selection of the president. It was intended to ensure that candidates appealed to a broad range of regions rather than focusing solely on high-population areas. In modern elections, the system has greatly influenced campaign strategies, leading candidates to concentrate on swing states instead of campaigning evenly across the nation. Supporters argue that it preserves federalism, prevents domination by large urban areas, and encourages coalition-building across diverse regions. However, critics contend that it can result in presidents being elected without winning the popular vote, gives disproportionate weight to voters in smaller states, and discourages participation in states considered “safe” for one party. As a result, the Electoral College remains a source of ongoing debate over fairness, representation, and the balance of power in American democracy.

brookeloveria — 2025-08-15 22:29:00 UTC

The electoral college forces candidates to focus on all states instead of only bigger states that have a larger population. This means its intended purpose was to ensure all states and their population get to input their votes on the election and have it count, even if it's only slightly. An impact that the electoral college has had on modern elections is making candidates focus their campaigns in swing states to get their electoral votes. For example, a candidate might focus the most on Pennsylvania because it has a large amount of electoral votes (19), and the most out of all swing states. A criticism the electoral college faces is if a candidate wins the popular vote, yet loses the election. This can easily cause an outrage, and reasonably so. An example of this is the outcome of the 2016 election. An argument for its preservation is the same as why it was created, which is to make sure candidates appeal to all states and not just larger ones or swing states.

2025-08-17 23:25:50 UTC

The intended purpose for the electoral college was to create a balanced and indirect method for electing a president. Some of the impacts the system had was that smaller state got to have a chance to have a saying in who became the president and their votes have more weight to them. because the state is smaller which could mean that there are less people it wouldn't be fair because all their votes could be canceled out by a bigger state, and the bigger state would have extra votes due to a bigger population. The system makes it fair by giving the smaller states votes extra power like how a bigger states vote would be, the smaller states votes would count more. Say of a bigger state had one vote than a smaller state would have four or more maybe in one vote.

madelinezehr1 — 2025-08-18 03:18:24 UTC

The intended purpose for the Electoral College was to focus on having a balance in representation. It was intended to create a balance within the population of large and small states. This has now impacted modern elections through candidates having a strong campaign focus on swing states. With the focus on swing states and obtaining their electoral votes, there is less campaign attention towards other states that are seen to have a predictable outcome. Although the Electoral College has been said to be an outdated system many still seek its preservation. They say that the Electoral College balances the power between states. So, that a large state wouldn't have any more power over a small state. The Electoral College has also supported stability in voting for future presidents. Although those who don't seek its preservation say that the Electoral College can be undemocratic. Some say that with the Electoral College a principle is being undermined, that ultimately can make the candidate who won the popular vote lose the election. The Electoral College is also heavily rooted in with racism and slavery through the Three-Fifths Compromise. All in all the Electoral College has had many positive impacts along with its negatives within the past and modern elections.

2025-08-22 19:02:04 UTC

The Electoral College was made by the Founding Fathers to give both big and small states a fair say in choosing the president. They didn’t want the biggest states to totally control elections, but they also wanted smaller states to matter. It was also set up as kind of a safety net so electors could step in if voters picked someone who seemed unfit. Back then, it made sense because communication and voting systems weren’t as organized as today. Now, the Electoral College is really controversial in modern elections. People who support it say it’s still important because it makes sure smaller and rural states aren’t ignored, and it forces candidates to campaign in different areas instead of just big cities. But critics think it’s outdated and unfair since someone can win the presidency without winning the popular vote, like in 2000 and 2016. It also makes swing states super important while the rest of the country doesn’t get as much attention. Because of this, some people think it doesn’t really fit with democracy today, while others think it’s still needed to keep balance between states.