TOPICS #36-39 — THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE AND THE ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION OF POLITICAL PARTIES

Q1.     Why did the framers of the Constitution set up the “Electoral College” system for electing the President? How was it intended to work? And why did it never work as intended?

Q2.     How did the early formation of political parties transform presidential selection from a relatively “elitist” process into a mass popular election (with a special voting counting rule)?

Q3.     How has the party Presidential nominating process evolved more recently from a somewhat “elitist” process into nomination by (indirect) Presidential primary elections?

Electoral College (Article II, Section 1-2)

          intermediate electors

          double-vote system

          contingent procedure

          12^th Amendment

transformation of the electoral college

          pledged electors

          popularly elected electors

          general ticket system

          two-party system

Duverger’s Law: single-winner elections => two-candidate contests => two-party system

          elections of 1824 and 1912

          “spoiler candidates”

presidential nominations

          Congressional caucus (1796-1828)

          national convention (introduced in 1832)

                     party-dominant nominating process (1832-1908)

          Presidential primaries (introduced in 1912)

                     mixed nominating process (1912-1968)

          "party reform" (introduced in 1972)

                     candidate-dominant nominating process (1972 - ??)