The Importance of the Electoral College
by Dr. George Grant
Click Here to Purchase from The Vision Forum, Inc.

Review by Jordon M. Greene (July 20, 2009)

"James Madison argued in the Federalist Papers that much of the genius of a nation of liberty is its 'protection of the freedoms and prerogatives of the few against the freedoms and prerogatives of the many.'" - Dr. George Grant

Dr. George Grant's The Importance of the Electoral College brilliantly expounds upon the significance of this truly unique and American method of choosing the President and Vice-President of these United States of America. While many today are criticizing and calling for the outright abolition and replacement of the Electoral College in favor a direct national popular vote, Dr. Grant is asking us to reconsider that proposal in showing the brilliance of the framers' Electoral College or our government of federalism.

As Grant explains, the Electoral College acts as a protector of federalism by protecting the individual states , with separate interest and concerns from the simple majority of the nation as a whole, which could possibly not take into account the unique and differing needs and concerns of various regions and minority groups which often congregate in specific areas and regions. Just as our Constitution instituted a government of federalism, allowing the states to remain sovereign as fifty different self-governing entities, the Electoral College allows the same, requiring candidates to take up the concerns of many areas and minorities to garner the support they need to be elected, not just those of the largest metropolitan area of our nation. Whereas a candidate could theoretically win the election by catering to the concerns of only the nation's largest cities under a national popular vote, candidates must cater to various regions and interests across many states to garner the needed electoral votes to win a majority of the Electoral College. Therefore, the Electoral College actually works to ensure the candidates are better qualified by ensuring they understand the needs of the nation as a whole, not just those of several centralized cities.

As Grant says, "American Constitutional history requires majority rule with minority consent." The main issue here is the protections of minorities from the sometime selfish and overbearing interests of the majority, which is exactly what the Electoral College is designed to do, and what a national popular vote would no doubt fail to do. The North Carolinians for Free and Proper Elections PAC strongly encourages Americans to take the time to read Dr. Grant's The Importance of the Electoral College to gain a better grasp on our method of choosing a President of Vice-President and to better understand why this method is superior to that of a direct national popular vote.

Copyright © 2009 Jordon M. Greene. Jordon M. Greene is the President and Founder of the North Carolinians for Free and Proper Elections PAC, member of the Constitution Party of North Carolina's State Executive Committee and Ballot Access Committee, Political Science student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and formerly served in 2008 as Campaign Manager for the Bryan Greene 2008 Congressional Campaign Committee.