Life in Numbers , livre ebook

Margar et King
The
Electoral
College
 

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Library of Congress Ca taloging-in-Publication Data
Nam es: King, Margaret (Margaret Esther), author .
Title: The Electoral College / Margaret King .
Description: Huntington Beach, California : T eacher Created Materials, 2018.
| Series: Life in numbers | Includes index. | Audience: Grade 7 to 8.
Identifiers: L CCN 2017055672 (print) | L C CN 2018012704 (ebook) | ISBN
9781425854898 (e-book) | ISBN 9781425850135 (pbk .)
Subjects: LCSH: Electoral college--United States--Juv enile literature. |
Presidents--United Stat es--Election--Juvenile literature .
Classification: L CC JK529 (ebook) | L C C JK529 .K56 2018 (print) | DDC
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made by the author or the publisher .
 

T a b l e o f Con ten t s
T o Pic k a Presi de nt ...............................................................5
B ir th of the El ectoral Co lle g e ...............................................6
Ho w It W orks ..................................................................... 1 8
Pros and Cons .....................................................................30
W hat Do Y ou Th in k ? .........................................................40
Gl o ss a ry ............................................................................. 4 2
Inde x .................................................................................. 44
Chec k It Ou t ! ......................................................................46
T r y It ! ................................................................................. 4 7
Abo u t the A utho r ................................................................ 48
3
 

A Colle ge w ith No Class e s
“Electoral College” sounds like a
place you might go to learn a bout
political campaigns, but in this case,
“college” means a group of people
who meet to select a leader . The
Constitution talks about “electors”
but does not use the term “Electoral
College.” A law in 1845 made the
name official.
polling place
4
 

T o Pi ck a Pr es id en t
E v er y f our y ears, Americans w ho are at leas t
1 8y ea rs ol d g o to poll i ng pl ace s in No v ember t o v o te
f or a p res i den t. The candi date wh o g ets the m os t v o tes
w i n s , r ig h t?
W e ll, no t e x actl y . On Electi on D a y , peopl e are not
di rectl y v oti ng f or a pres i den tial candi date . Instead, the y
a re pi c king a group o f e lecto rs w ho h a v e a greed to v ote
f or a ce rt a in candidate . These e l ect ors, c ho sen acr oss the
coun tr y , make up the El ect oral Co lle g e . The Elec toral
Co lle g e mee ts in December to e l ect a p res i den t.
One strang e thi ng a bou t this sy s tem is tha t a
pres i de ntial candi date w ho g ets the m os t v o tes on
El ecti on Da y may s till los e the e lec tio n. This has
actual l y ha ppened in f iv e d iffe ren t e l ecti ons . S om e
peop l e de f en d the El ector al Coll e ge , b ut o thers thi nk
i t g oes ag ainst bas i c i deas o f de mocrac y . W hy d oes
the U nited S tates ha ve this odd s y ste m, and ho w has it
af fected the nation ’ s h istor y?
 
What mi ght be some arguments for keeping or
changing the Ele c toral Colle ge?
 
What might be s ome other o ptions for elec ting
a president?
 
What are some pros and cons o f havin g people
direc tly ele c t their leader s?
5
 

B i rt h of t he E l ec t o r a l Co l l e g e
The idea o f the El ect oral Co lle g e be gan in the
summer o f 1 7 87 . Fift y - fi v e d ele gat e s from the ne w ly
f ormed U ni ted States me t in Philade l phia. The y
w o uld s pend a h ot s ummer a rguing , de ba ting , and
fi nally a greeing o n a ne w f or m of g o v ern men t. The y
set o u t the r ules f or th is g o v er nment in the U .S .
Const itution.
A New K i n d of Le ad e r
The del e g ates t o the Cons ti tuti on al Conv ention
deci ded on a g o ve rn men t wi th th ree separate
branc hes—J udi cial, Ex ec uti v e, and Legis l ati v e
( Con gress ). The 1 3 states had j us t w o n a w ar f or
indepe nde nce fro m B r i tis h r ule . The y did n ot w a nt
a k ing to o rde r them around an ymor e . Instead,
the y agreed on a ne w kind of l eade r—an el ected
presiden t—to g uide t he nat ion .
Only i n Ame rica
No other countr y elects its top leader the way
the United States does. In many democratic
countries, the people elect the leader directly .
In other countries, lawmakers pick the head of
state. But the United States is the only nation
where voters choose electors whose only job is
to pick the president.
6