The Electoral College and Presidential Leadership
The Electoral College and Presidential Leadership
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Prepare: Prior to beginning work on this discussion question, read Chapters 5 and 6 in American Government and review Week 3 Instructor Guidance. In addition, read What Are the Arguments Made in Favor—and Against—the Electoral College? (Links to an external site.), Stop Blaming the Electoral College (Links to an external site.), and “Swing States, the Winner-Take-All Electoral College, and Fiscal Federalism.”
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Reflect: As the textbook author asserts, the framers intentionally designed a process for selecting presidents that would minimize the president’s political power—the Electoral College. They hoped this institution would insulate the chief executive from the public, because they feared the power of presidents who might be elected by the people. However, the Electoral College has also spawned a long ongoing debate about whether it should be abandoned in favor of new methods, which would ensure that the candidate elected has the most popular votes. The controversy over the Electoral College must be understood to understand better how and why U.S. presidents are elected. Only five times in United States history has the candidate who won the popular vote lost the Electoral College vote. However, this has happened twice in the last 16 years—in the 2000 Bush/Gore election and again in the 2016 Trump/Clinton election.
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Write: For this discussion,
Describe how the Electoral College works, select a presidential election from U.S. history, and discuss the results of the Compare the Electoral College results with the popular vote.
Explain your position regarding the Electoral College and whether you are for or against the Electoral College as it is currently. Be sure to elaborate and explain your rationale for your position.
Your initial post must be at least 300 words. If you are citing statistics our outside resources, please list the website or the reference entry.
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Respond to Peers: By Day 7, respond to at least two of your classmates’ initial posts. Your peer responses should be substantive and at least 100 words each. For this discussion, respond to at least one peer who discussed a different stance regarding the Electoral College than you did for this assignment. This will allow you to discuss counterarguments and support the position you discussed. As your reply to your classmates, attempt to take the conversation further by examining their claims or arguments in more depth or responding to the posts that they make to you. Keep the discussion on target and try to analyze things in as much detail as you can.
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This discussion forum allows you the opportunity to explore topics that interest you and relate to United States government and the political processes we are discussing. Within this forum, you will share critical insights and discuss questions and issues that we are studying, share your personal challenges and successes, and discuss any concepts that you do not completely understand that have been discussed or addressed in our materials this week. Your initial post should focus on your personal experience within the course over the past week and should prompt further discussion from your classmates. Please be sure to address the following questions:
How is your research progressing on your Final Paper project so far? What from this course has had the most impact on your understanding of American government?
In addition to the questions above, also address at least one of the following questions as you reflect on the learning week:
What was the most interesting and/or intriguing concept you learned about during this week?
Are there any current events that you can recall that relate to the course concepts we are studying this week?
What insights have you had?
What concepts are causing you to struggle?
What questions have arisen for you at this point?
Do you have any helpful tips or ideas to help students better understand the material and course concepts?
What questions do you have regarding any of the discussions or assignments that your classmates might be able to provide insight? (Please note, if you have a question for the instructor, be sure to contact them through email or in the Ask Your Instructor forum, as they may not see the question here.)
You are required to post at least 100 total words in the forum this week. You can post one time or ten times; the only requirement is that you post at least 100 words total and that you engage in conversation related to the course materials. Ask questions, answer questions, provide extra resources you found interesting, or engage in a debate (respectfully, of course) about something you learned this week. The only requirement is that your posts must relate to the course content.
This open forum is a place for you to collaborate and connect with your classmates as well as one another. Your instructor will monitor this board and may post but is not expected to answer all questions.
If you notice that a classmate is struggling with something that you can help address, use your responses as a way to support them. Helping your classmates will not only benefit them, but it will also help to solidify your own knowledge.
All of your participation in this forum is due before Day 7 of the week. Students who post early in the week, using this forum to engage their classmates on a regular basis, tend to do well and get more out of the course.
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