fandomhigh | US Government (Wednesday, April 19, 4th period)

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US Government (Wednesday, April 19, 4th period)

After hearing today's announcement, Josh had taken the precaution of closing the classroom door after the government students had arrived.

Running toilets were just a little much.

"Okay, first of all, your final exam will be next Friday, April 28, so start your flailing early and avoid the rush." He kicked his feet onto his desk. "Today, we talk about the electoral college."

He gestured to a map on the board. "Every state and the District of Columbia is worth a certain number of electoral votes, which are used--rather than a straight popular vote--to determine who becomes President. A state's electoral vote number is the combination of the number of representatives it has in Congress added to its two Senators. Every state, therefore, has at least 3 electoral votes. California, with the most population, has 55 electoral votes.

"There are 538 electoral votes up for grabs--you need at least 270 of them to become President. In the history of the United States there have been four elections where the person who became President didn't also win the popular vote--1824, 1876, 1888 and 2000."

Josh scrubbed his hands through his hair. "There is always someone trying to abolish the electoral college, and the debate both for and against it have been raging since roughly 1824. Proponents say that it requires candidates to spend time in states that they'd normally avoid--Iowa, for instance, or Michigan--and tailor their message to the entire country rather than focussing exclusively on California, Texas, and Florida, where the population is. Opponents say that with a winner-take-all distribution of electoral college votes--a candidate can win a state by 40 votes and still get all of the electoral votes--it disenfranchises the voters who cast ballots for the other guy." He gestured lazily at the class. "What do you think?"

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...

Angela signed in.

Alphonse signed in.

Isabel signed in.

Elizabeth signed in.

Marty signs in.

Sam signed in

John signs in.

Kawalsky signed in.

Peter signed in.

Lindsey signed in.

Yeah, it makes no sense. But neither does most of American politics. Scrap it or keep it? Why?

Angela doodled in her notebook during the lecture. "I'm not sure?" she finalyl said. "I mean, I guess I can see both sides."

She sucked on the top of her pen. "I would never make it up myself? But I can understand why people like it."

"If you were setting up a country of your own--let's call it Angelaland--would you use the electoral college?"

Angela snorted a bit at the idea of her own country. "Probably not," she said. "Direct elections seem easier and fairer."

"It would be quite a task to change the way something like this works, especially after a couple hundred years; but at the same time, I think all states deserve equal opportunity to be worth the vote. If only three states determine what the electoral vote will be, it could cause those in other states to not even bother with the election at all."

Josh nodded. "And in these very close elections, like the ones recently when every electoral vote has mattered, candidates have been visiting places that they'd historically avoid--states with six or seven electoral votes are now enough to swing the entire thing."

"Haven't some states changed it?" Isabel asked. "So that they don't vote in a block and instead the votes are split proportionitly based on the popular vote? Or is that just a pie in the sky idea that sort of makes more sense?"

"The states that have changed it have broken it down by Congressional districts, and so far those have still shifted all of a state's votes for one candidate--Nebraska's all went to Bush, for instance." Josh smiled. "It should be interesting to see what happens when it doesn't break down like that."

"The flailings of the newscasters should be interesting at least," Isabel grinned.

"They'll have to get entirely new wipeboards."

"If you eliminate the electoral college, then wouldn't presidential candidates focus only on California and Texas for political issues? Then the smaller states would really get short-changed."

Josh nodded. "The smaller states really get short-changed now--no one heads out for Wyoming or the Dakotas. But the medium states--Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, the South--really shift the balance of things." He shrugged. "Personally, I like it."

"I think we should revise it," Sam said, after some thought. "The 2000 election was a farce. One state's inability to properly supervise the voting of its citizens shouldn't decide who leads the country for the next four years--it's just too big a job to leave to that kind of chance."

Josh looked thoughtful. "How would you revise it?"

"I think splitting the representative according to the voting percentages in the state would be most fair--that way you don't have a state like New York, where most of the population is in New York City, pretty much voting for the entire state, leaving cities like Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany without any voice whatsoever. Their concerns are so different."

Sam warmed to the topic and began to ramble, "If you split it according to the percentage, then a state that has four representatives and voted 75% Democratic would have three representatives to vote for that party, but the Republicans would still feel like their votes were worth something."

Josh nodded. "It's been a thought because a lot of states have that problem: the issues of the people in the cities are very different from those who live in the suburbs or out on farms. The trick is to keep a balance."

"Also, I'd think that this would make it more difficult to, er, redistrict around underrepresented minorities."

"That would be a new and interesting concept, huh?" Josh asked. "Allowing everyone's vote to count?"

"And almost completely the opposite of the way of the founders intended," she said, dryly.

Josh snorted. "Yeah, well, a few weeks knocking door to door and meeting the American voter? You discover they might not've been entirely wrong."

"Which is why I didn't suggest a complete return to 'one person, one vote,'" Sam retorted.

Josh grinned. "Good call."

"I'd say keep it, but have someone brainstorm some ideas for a good replacement. It's not perfect, but it works for now, so...but if some brain came up with something better, we should go with that."

Peter was thinking too much about a couple hours from now to focus on discussion. Oh well.

Lindsey shrugged.

"I don't really know. I mean, the system seems like it's busted, but would making every vote count make things any better? People don't like change, trying to get rid of the electoral thing might cause more problems than it solved."

...

Marty approaches Professor Lyman after class.

"Professor Lyman? Sorry I flaked out on classes the last couple of weeks. I had some personal issues that I needed to take care of and had to go home and a couple of other places to handle them. Is there anything I can do to make up the work I've missed?"

Josh smiled. "Clarence! Good to see you back. Angela told me that you had some things to take care of. Tell you what--give me an ~~handwavy~~ essay on why the Congress is obviously inferior to the power of the Presidency, and we'll call it even."

"Thanks Professor Lyman," Marty said with a sigh of relief. "Is there any particular ~~handwavy~~ date it needs to be done by?"

"How about before your final next Friday? Since you'll be ~~handwavily~~ studying up on this stuff anyway."

...

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US Government (Wednesday, April 19, 4th period)

Sign in (Government, April 19)

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The Electoral College

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After class

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OOC