The Electoral College Primer 2000

by Lawrence D. Longley and Neal R. Peirce

• ISBN13: 9780300080353
• ISBN10: 0300080352
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 1999-09-10
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

The president of the United States is not actually elected by a direct vote of the people but indirectly by means of an electoral college. Yet the operations of our archaic electoral college and the extent of its influence in presidential elections are little understood by most Americans. In this complete and authoritative guide to the electoral college, Lawrence D. Longley and Neal R. Peirce provide essential Information on how the electoral system works -- and sometimes misfires. At its best, the authors reveal, the electoral college distorts campaign strategy and poorly represents the popular will. And at its worst, it can create political and constitutional crises.

The book includes detailed accounts of recent elections, including that of 1992 when election of the president by the House of Representatives appeared for a while to be the likely outcome. The authors also offer an imaginative version of election year 2000, during which the astonishing results of an electoral deadlock demonstrate the disastrous failings of the electoral college as a means of e

Author Biography

Lawrence D. Longley is professor of government at Lawrence University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
chapter one The Election of 2000 Is Not Quite Decided: A Fantasy	1	(16)
chapter two Why Was the Electoral College Created and How Well Has It Worked?	17	(22)
chapter three Recent Crisis Elections	39	(57)
chapter four How Today's Electoral College Works	96	(38)
chapter five Popular Votes Do Not Equal Electoral Votes	134	(28)
chapter six The Electoral College in the Election of 2000--and Beyond	162	(15)
Appendixes	177	(32)
Notes	209	(20)
Select Bibliography	229	(14)
Index	243