Why Keep the Electoral College?

More of this Feature • Part 1: Why the EC? • Part 3: Can it Change?    Join the Discussion "Eliminating the electoral college wouldn't provide any clear benefits." KRD3   Related Resources • The Electoral College • EC Votes by State • Presidential Straw Poll  From Other Guides • Our First Election  • GOP Fears Gays? • The Debate & Women • A Letter to Bush   Elsewhere on the Web • EC's Home Page  • Defenders of the EC

Critics argue that by taking the selection of the president out of the hands of the public at large, that Electoral College system flies in the face of democracy. America is, after all, a democracy, is it not? Let's see.

Two of the several recognized forms of democracy are:

• Pure or Direct Democracy -- All decisions are made directly by a majority vote of all eligible citizens. By their vote alone, citizens can enact laws and select or remove their leaders. The power of the people to control their government is unlimited.
  
  
• Representative Democracy -- The citizens rule through representatives who they elect periodically in order to keep them accountable. The power of the people to control their government is thus limited by the actions of their elected representatives.

The United States is a representative democracy -- under a "republican" form of government as provided for in Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution which states, "The United States shall guarantee to every State in the Union a Republican form of Government..." (This should not be confused with the Republic political party which is merely named after the form of government.)