Presidential Elections and Majority Rule: The Rise, Demise, and Potential Restoration of the Jeffersonian Electoral College
Edward B. Foley
Abstract
The Electoral College governing America today was adopted by Thomas Jefferson’s supporters, after the 1800 election almost derailed his presidency. The Jeffersonians were motivated by majority rule. Given the emergence of two-party competition between Federalists and themselves, the Jeffersonians intended the Electoral College to award the presidency to the majority party. Given the federal structure of the United States, they envisioned the Electoral College as implementing a compound form of majority rule: a candidate would win by amassing a majority of electoral votes from states where the ... More
The Electoral College governing America today was adopted by Thomas Jefferson’s supporters, after the 1800 election almost derailed his presidency. The Jeffersonians were motivated by majority rule. Given the emergence of two-party competition between Federalists and themselves, the Jeffersonians intended the Electoral College to award the presidency to the majority party. Given the federal structure of the United States, they envisioned the Electoral College as implementing a compound form of majority rule: a candidate would win by amassing a majority of electoral votes from states where the candidate’s party was in the majority.
Keywords:
Jefferson,
majoritarian,
democracy,
runoff,
Ranked Choice Voting,
presidency,
elector,
reform,
plurality,
federalism,
winner-take-all
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2020 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780190060152 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: January 2020 |
DOI:10.1093/oso/9780190060152.001.0001 |
