|
|
|
You will write an argumentative essay in which you will offer support for your chosen position in the Constitutional Amendment Debate. This assignment will require that you support your claims with evidence from both scholarly sources and from your own analysis of arguments. In order to write the paper and argue effectively, it will also be necessary for you to familiarize yourself with the major arguments on the opposing perspective. This paper should be typed, 6-7 pages in length, and employ proper citation format.
The paper will be due April 23, the week prior to the Constitutional Amendment Debate and will help you to formulate your oral arguments.
Some argue that the Electoral College system is a relic of an earlier, less democratic era and that it should be scrapped before it elects another presidential candidate who "loses" the popular vote. Perhaps the most obvious substitute for the Electoral College would be direct election using the plurality system. In a plurality system, the candidate receiving more votes than any other candidate is declared the winner, even if the candidate received less than a majority of the vote. Another possible substitute for the Electoral College would be an "instant runoff" system. Instant Runoff allows voters to rank candidates as their first choice, second choice, third, fourth and so on. If a candidate does not receive a clear majority of votes on the first count, a series of runoff counts are conducted, using each voter’s top choices indicated on the ballot. The candidate who received the fewest first place ballots is eliminated. The ballots are then retabulated, with each counting as a vote for the top-ranked candidate listed on the ballot that is still in contention. Voters who chose the now-eliminated candidate have their vote transferred to their second choice candidate—just as if they were voting in a traditional two-round runoff election. This process continues until a candidate achieves more than fifty percent of the vote. Pro: Write an essay in favor of a Constitutional amendment that would replace the electoral college with a direct instant runoff vote for the President.
Con: Write an essay in favor of maintaining the Electoral College.
[These group lists should be correct as of 4/11. Please let me know about any error.] Electoral System Web Resources Advisory: Consider using the "non-virtual" library (the one with actual books, journal, and magazines in it). You will find a wealth of information through various links to the web below, but you won't find all the information you might need nor will you find that information in the most efficient manner. The time it takes to walk to the "non-virtual" library might be far less than time consumed by hopping from one link to the next in the hope of finding a particular piece of information. This is a list of periodical databases available to University of Hartford students. I recommend two in particular:
If you want to use these databases off-campus, look at the information at this link.
The Electoral College (pdf format)
Electoral College-National Archives and Records Administration
SpeakOut.com Daily Briefing - Time to Reform the Electoral College?
SpeakOut.com Article - Electoral College Helps Blacks, Latinos
Center for Voting and Democracy
EC The US Electoral College Web Zine
Citizens for True Democracy Advocates for Fair Elections
San Francisco Instant Runoff Campaign
Should the United States adopt proportional representation in the Senate? In the United States, almost all legislative elections are run on the "winner-take-all" system in which the person winning the most votes in a particular district is the only person elected to represent that district. Many democracies use what is called "proportional representation," in which several legislators are elected from each district and each party receives legislative seats in proportion to the percentage of the vote received. Advocates of proportional representation say that this is more fair since it allows more than the candidate or party who comes in first to have a share of legislative power. Pro: Write an essay in favor of a Constitutional amendment that would institute a system of national proportional representation in the United States Senate.
Anti: Write an essay in favor of maintaining our current system of representation in the United States Senate.
[These group lists should be correct as of 4/11. Please let me know about any error.] Proportional Representation Web Resources Advisory: Consider using the "non-virtual" library (the one with actual books, journal, and magazines in it). You will find a wealth of information through various links to the web below, but you won't find all the information you might need nor will you find that information in the most efficient manner. The time it takes to walk to the "non-virtual" library might be far less than time consumed by hopping from one link to the next in the hope of finding a particular piece of information. This is a list of periodical databases available to University of Hartford students. I recommend two in particular:
If you want to use these databases off-campus, look at the information at this link. Proportional Representation Library
Proportional Representation FAQ
Center for Voting and Democracy
The Report of the Independent Commission on the Voting System, Chapter Three: The Current System "The Jenkins Report:" A 1998 report prepared for the British Parliament which presents the virtues and vices of the single-member plurality or "first past the post" system
The
Case for Proportional Representation Robert Richie & Steven
Hill
Common Criticisms of PR and Responses to Them
Administration and Cost of Elections Project
|
