The framer's intent of setting up the American government will never be known for sure, but it is gathered that they preferred a republic to a democracy. In the constitutional convention the drafters had to decide how much power they would entrust with the people of the United States, and how much should be controlled by representatives. They chose to have Congress make the laws, and congress would be selected directly by the people. But another branch of government, the executive branch, needed a sole president and the framers had to decide how to choose this president. They chose from three main systems: elect the president by congress, the people, or electors. Many debates were made over this topic in the constitutional convention and eventually the Electoral College system was chosen. The Electoral College system has been in place for over 200 years and Americans are still not sure how it works or if it is the best system. Many Americans feel they go to the polls every year and vote for the president, and in the long run they are in control of the fate of our executive branch. With the 2000 election it was clear that many people have little understanding for how a president is chosen; the 2000 election came close to having no majority of electors due to the incredibly close vote count throughout the U.S., the contested votes, and an ancient method of tabulating votes is various sectors. The Electoral College is just barely surviving and is under more and more attacking all the time. The Electoral College was not the preferred method by the Founding Fathers. They actually preferred popular vote, but many smaller states believed their political voice would be squashed, so they compromised by accepting the method of the Electoral College. Winston Churchill later said, "the electoral college system is probably the worst possible method of choosing a president-except for all the others (Glennon 3)." The general ticket system, or the...
