The Electoral College: How It Got That Way and Why We're Stuck with It

Students must have an understanding about the struggles experienced by the delegates at the Constitutional Convention in developing a national chief executive. Both the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan identify for students some of the options discussed by the delegates regarding the creation of this office. Once the office of the President of the United States was created, Publius defends its creation and mode of election through the Electoral College in Federalist 68. Finally, the article, “The Electoral College: How It Got This Way and Why We’re Stuck With It,” brings these issues together in explaining why it is that the Electoral College, though often criticized, is not likely to be abolished or altered.