How the Electoral College Sustains Multiculturalism
There’s a lot of debate around the electoral college. Should we keep it as is or do we get rid of it for the national popular vote. Through all of it I haven’t heard anyone discuss what I would consider one of the most valuable points. That the electoral college helps sustain multiculturalism. Which is one of the great aspects of America. This was an argument put forth by George mason at the Philadelphia Convention. James Madison’s notes from the convention show Mr. Mason saying “It ought to know & sympathise with every part of the community; and ought therefore to be taken not only from different parts of the whole republic, but also from different districts of the larger members of it, which had in several instances particularly in Virga., different interests and views arising from difference of produce, of habits &c &c.”. Here he was referring to what is now known as the House of Representatives. The idea was that different states within the republic and the different districts within the larger states have different cultures. This ideas carries over to the presidential election as well.
The electoral college gives each culture a voice in the presidential election. Each culture has different interests and needs. The electoral college represents what the collective conscious for the many cultures in America. For instance, if I sat down with a student, who just got out of high school without practical experience of the culture and is anxious facing the world for the first time they may have a different take on which direction the culture should go as compared to a forty-year-old with actual failures and successes in the culture. Perspectives change over time and vary based on experience. I believe taking a vote and the majority rule best represents the culture and the direction they want to go in. When you add up all the experiences and perspectives of all the people in the area only then could you have a good grasp of the culture. Even then those experiences are limited to specific areas. I would wager the average American spends little time outside of there county. If someone from another county tried to use there experiences to dictate what happened in your county how would you react?
The question is at which level should we break down the cultures and how to give each of them a voice. Even inside each state there is multiple cultures. Each county has different written and un written laws that shapes their culture in a different way than the county next to it. Do we break the election down to counties? But each county has different towns and cities with different ordinances and industries that impact the culture and the people, do we break it down that far? Do we give each culture a direct voice to the federal government or do we let the majority of the cities or town vote a representative, then those representatives vote and the majority goes to the president and vice president to be the deciding factor.
I would say states are a good middle ground or maybe districts. Each state is divided into districts already which are based off how many seats in the house of representatives. The electoral college represents the same number plus 2. Each district could vote for the direction of one of the allotted electoral votes. Then take the total votes throughout the state and the majority of all the votes decide where the remaining votes would go. Kind of like Maine and Nebraska.
What we have learned in history is that the will of the majority can be just as tyrannical and oppressive as the rule of a dictator. And each of the positions at the top of government and the rule of the majority need a check on power. The electoral college is the check on the majority and allows the minority cultures to have a voice in the election.
“The republican principle demands that the deliberate sense of the community should govern the conduct of those to whom they intrust the management of their affairs; but it does not require an unqualified complaisance to every sudden breeze of passion or to every transient impulse which the people may receive from the arts of men, who flatter their prejudices to betray their interests”
Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (2016). “The Federalist Papers and the Constitution of the United States: The Principles of the American Government”, p.383, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc
“We are now forming a republican government. Real liberty is never found in despotism or the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments.”
Alexander Hamilton
Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton (1932). “Jeffersonian principles and Hamiltonian principles: extracts from the writings of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton”
The electoral college was set up in a way that each state could pick representatives that reflect the culture of the state. It makes sense that each state would devote all its electors to the will of the majority of that state, also known as the “winner take all”. It was the people of the state who voted for them and with a majority that would be the most accurate depiction of the culture. Why would electors from NY vote a different way just because most voters from Washington state voted in a different way. This is what the National Popular Vote is trying to do.
Why states’ should remain separated from each other. If I asked you who would be better at understanding the needs of your children, you or your neighbor the next block over you would tell me that you are. If I asked who would better understand the needs of your city, town, or village someone from those places or someone in a different city, town or village. You would probably tell me someone from your place. The same can be said for your state officials. Someone from the a state with an agricultural area wouldn’t be able to understand the needs or be the best fit to run a state which has an urban culture.
Why states’ rights are more important than the federal government. If I asked who would be best at prioritizing the needs of your neighborhood a group of people from the houses in the neighborhood or a group of people with one representative from each surrounding neighborhood. You would probably tell me the group of people from your neighborhood. But when it comes to the federal government, we think they can do a better job at running our states with less representation than the state representatives already elected.
The importance of the federal government shouldn’t be understated. Their laws should allow all citizens to pass through any state without threat of violence or the ability to assimilate to the specific culture in that area. And each citizen of each state was endowed with certain inalienable rights. Which the federal government was charged with protecting. Although they were to stay out of the day to day business of the states. The position of president represents most cultures throughout the United States, but it doesn’t mean they understand the needs of the many cultures. That’s why the federal government was formed with more limitations than privileges, and states’ rights were more important than federal rights.
Looking at the electoral college this ways shows how it maintains a balance between the cultures throughout the United States. Without this breakdown in representation the overarching culture would have its voice and force the minority cultures into compliance. It is precisely this break down in representation in all of the branchs of government that allow for multiple cultures to flourish. They say “politics is downstream of culture”. I believe this is only true because of the several districts throughout our country allow our cultures to shape or politics. With the rising powers of the federal government we are heading towards an era were culture will be downstream of politics. Allowing politicians to shape our cultures on a whim.
