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This is the fifth and final post in our series about some of the benefits of the Electoral College. We have covered how it contains disputes, keeps power in the states, makes results more decisive, a…

So far this week, we have considered the following benefits of the Electoral College.Election disputes are contained within individual states;Presidents don’t control their own elections; andMost of …

The nationwide popular vote margin in 1880 was less than 10,000 votes, or just about .1 percent. Neither candidate had a majority, which is often the case in close presidential elections. Yet James G…

One consequence of the Electoral College is a practical respect for states, both their boundaries and their legislatures. While the federal government has assumed many powers once left to the states,…

It is easy to forget that when we vote “for president,” we really vote for electors pledged to support the candidate we favor. Civics education is not what it used to be, and perhaps the Electoral Co…

The Electoral College is under attack because it matters. Presidential elections determine who will direct federal agencies and appoint judges, but the process also shapes the rest of American politi…

In American history, there been just one consensus candidate for president. George Washington, the “father of his country” and the “indispensable man,” was chosen in the first two presidential electi…

We’re rapidly approaching election day, so it seems like good time to check a claim made by lobbyists for the National Popular Vote interstate compact (NPV). Does it hold up to reality? The claim is …

Before the Constitution, the United States had a simple legislature with just one chamber. All the national legislative, executive, and judicial powers were in the hands of that Congress. It was gove…