Essay on RE DO

Essay on RE DO Essay on RE DO Ivon Dimas Second Draft May 11, 2015 Re-Do Introduction Robert Dahl, a leading democratic theorist, once said: â€Å"Every member must have an equal and effective opportunity to vote, and all votes must be counted as equal†. Every four years in the month of November, citizens of America go to the polls to vote for the President and Vice President of the United States. Throughout the election, we are guaranteed one vote per person and equal voice in electing the people to serve in our government. The way the United States votes its president into office is through the Electoral College. The Electoral College is a body of people, theoretically representing the fifty states of America, who cast votes for the election of the president and vice president. Should the Electoral College be abolished? Yes, the Electoral College should be abolished for three reasons: it allows the election of a president who may not have the support of a majority of voters, gives preference to larger states, and does not give every voter an e qual voice. Definition of terms Abolished: to do away with; put an end to; annul; make void Candidate: person who seeks elected office. Congress: legislative branch of the government, responsible for making laws. The U.S. Congress has two bodies, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Election: the selection of a person or persons for office by vote. Electoral College: a body of electors chosen by the voters in each state to elect the president and vice president of the U.S. Electoral Vote: the vote cast in the electoral college of the U.S. by the representatives of each state in a presidential election. Federal government: pertaining to or of the nature of a union of states under a central government distinct from the individual governments of the separate states National Popular Vote Interstate Compact: is an agreement among several U.S. states plus the District of Columbia to allocate their presidential electors to the winner of the national popular vote under certain conditions Popular Vote: the vote for a U.S. presidential candidate made by the qualified voters, as opposed to that made by the Electoral College. Representative: a person who represents a constituency or community in a legislative body, especially a member of the U.S. House of Representatives or a lower house in certain state legislatures. Senator: a member of a senate. Winner take all: a situation or outcome wherebythe winner receives all the prizes or rewards History In 1786, the United States gained its Independence from the United Kingdom (Holcombe). This left the new-found states with a large debt to France. The governing body that led the country through the American Revolution was the Continental Congress. This body created the Articles of Confederation after the war. The articles served as the federal body, but had limited powers. One such power that they lacked was the power to tax. The articles also upheld state government over federal government. This made it increasingly hard for the young country to pay back its debt and remain united (History). In 1787, the federalists, under the leadership of Alexander Hamilton, drafted the Virgina plan to solve this problem (Smith). The plan was constructed under the idea of having a centralized federal government. Paying back France was just a noble cause. The Virginia plan proposed the two branches of legislation we know as the Senate and the House of Representatives. The House would be proportioned by population, and each state would have two representatives in the senate. The anti-federalists, proposed that such an act would destroy the newly established state governments (Holcombe). The smaller states came together and drafted a counter-plan known as the New Jersey Plan. This plan would continue to limit the power of a centralized federal government, and it would introduce no new congress (Holcombe). The latter part of their plan was put in to assure that the smaller states