Today's Questions: How Does the Electoral College Affect Presidential Campaign Strategies?

3.5 - The Electoral College

Today's Questions: How does the electoral college affect presidential campaign strategies?

Vocabulary: blue states critical election electoral college plurality election red states safe state swing state winner-take-all system

Introduction:

What makes presidential elections different from similar elections in other countries is that it is not a plurality election, meaning the candidate who wins the most votes - but not necessarily the majority of votes - automatically wins the top job. Instead, the electoral college ultimately decides the outcome. This means that while the people directly elect everyone from their mayor and governor up to their representatives and senators, their choice for president is not necessarily guaranteed by even the majority of votes. In other words, the candidate who wins the popular vote can still lose the election. It's not common, but this has happened (see "Elections that Broke the Rules" handout below). And it's because of the electoral college.

A few pertinent Constitutional and federal legal mandates:

ELECTION DAY: The first Tuesday after the first Monday of November.

WHEN THE ELECTORS MEET IN EACH STATE: The first Monday after the second Wednesday of December.

WHEN CONGRESS COUNTS THE ELECTORAL VOTES: January 6.

Part One

Activities: To begin, read Linda Monk, pages 68-72 for background and insight into the electoral college system. (Also located here and here). Be prepared to briefly discuss the purpose of the electoral college system and how it works overall, using the following questions as a guide. Pay attention to the arguments for and against the proposals to change the electoral college. You'll need to go back to these later. And if you have any questions about the system, this will be the time to ask.  Why did the 'founders' decide on using the electoral college to choose the president?  How was the election of 2000 a test of the electoral college system?  What hope did the 'founders' have about the electoral college that was never realized? Why not?

Now look at the map below from the 2012 presidential election. Note that the red states were won by the Republican, Mitt Romney, and the blue states by Barack Obama, the Democrat.

*Remember, the numbers reflect how many electoral votes each state was worth in 2008. Those numbers have since changed due to the 2010 census. There are 538 electoral votes (435 for House representation, 100 for the Senate, and DC gets 3). To win, a candidate needs 270 electoral votes, a majority from the electoral college.

**Note that a number of these states predictably have voted the same way nearly every election cycle in the recent past.

Given what we know about what factors influence the way people vote, what factors might influence a state to vote 'red' or 'blue' overall?

Now we're going to look into just how the electoral college dictates campaign strategies among presidential candidates.  You will be assigned one or several states to research.  Using the list we made from the above question as a guide, research your state to find out how it has voted in the recent past (back to 1992), whether it can be considered a 'red' or 'blue' state, and why it typically votes that way. *If your state has a varied voting record, or at least has been the scene of typically very close elections, it is probably a swing state.  Use the links at the bottom of the page for your research.  Be prepared to share your findings with the rest of the class.

Part One Assignment:

*Read through the file "Elections that Broke the Rules" below. It is good background into the elections where the candidate lost the popular vote but won the election.

**For further understanding of the electoral college and its relevance, see Wilson and DiIulio (textbook) pages 371-372, "How Things Work."

Part Two Activities:

We will debate the merits or follies of the electoral college system. You will be assigned a position to argue based on the point of view of different stakeholders (a populist, a resident of DC, a New York governor, etc.). You will then take about 20 minutes to read through the arguments (provided below) of both sides, taking notes on the main points. You will then have 10 minutes to collaborate with your fellow stakeholders to bring the arguments together and prepare for what the other sides might argue. Finally, we will engage in a whole class debate, advancing the arguments of the two sides. Be sure to take note of what the other side argues.

Part Two Assignment/Homework:

-Based on the arguments put forth in class, which side do you come down on? Write a clear and concise post to our discussion page for or against the electoral college. Be sure to refute some of the opposite arguments when advancing yours. Please make sure you read the supporting material linked at the bottom BEFORE YOU POST! *For extra credit, send your post as an editorial (Gettysburg Times, Hanover Evening Sun, Patriot News) or as a letter/email to your congressional representative (Scott Perry or Senator (Bob Casey or Pat Toomey).

PART 1: Elections that Broke the Rules (PDF 35 KB)

PART 2: Electoral College Pros and Cons (PDF 77 KB) Guide to the arguments both for and against maintaining the electoral college.

PART 2: College Exam: Should the Electoral College be Abolished? (PDF 169 KB) A brief rundown of the arguments for and against. NEED HELP DOWNLOADING: pdf file: You need Adobe Acrobat Reader (version 7 or higher) to view this file. Download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader for PC or Macintosh.

PART 1: USElections.org Click on EXTENSIVE PAST ELECTIONS RESULTS ATLAS PART 1: 270towin.com Click on STATES > VOTING HISTORY & TRENDS BY STATE Swing the Election Use this site to consider how Blue states can be mad Red.