Introduction A student is researching the Electoral College and whether it is an effective system for electing the president and vice president in the 21st century. The student has located five sources to answer the following question: Should the Electoral College be abolished? Background Several years after the United States was founded, the Constitutional Convention met to decide how the new nation would govern itself. In general, the delegates at the Constitutional Convention did not believe the president and vice president should be chosen by a direct popular vote of the people. They did not trust that voters would have enough information to make a good choice. Instead, the delegates settled on a system involving an Electoral College. In this system, the president and vice president are chosen indirectly. The Electoral College system works like this: All states and the District of Columbia get one electoral vote for each of their US senators and representatives. For example, California, the most populous state, has 53 members in the House of Representatives and 2 senators, so it has 55 electoral votes. ● Each state has a slate (list) of electors. When citizens vote in the presidential election, they are really voting for the slate of electors. ● In 48 states and the District of Columbia, whichever candidate wins the most votes in the state wins the state’s electoral votes. This is called the winnertake-all method. The remaining two states use an alternative method. Following the popular vote, the electors cast their votes, one for president and one for vice-president. Since electors are chosen by the political parties, they are usually loyal to their party in their votes. A candidate must receive a majority (one more than half) of the electoral votes to be declared president. If no one obtains a majority, the US House of Representatives selects the president from the top three contenders. In that case, each state gets one vote. As with many compromises, the Electoral College solution leaves many people unhappy. Some people believe the Electoral College system undercuts(undermine?) the basic principle of representative government—that one person should have one vote. Other people believe that, like many other legacies of the founders, the Electoral College may be flawed, but it’s still the best system for our democracy. Source A Source: John Samples, “In Defense of the Electoral College,” Cato Institute, November 10, 2000. “…the Electoral College makes sure that the states count in presidential elections. As such, it is an important part of our federalist system—a system worth preserving. Historically, federalism [the combination of a central government with some authority given to state and local governments] is central to our grand constitutional effort to restrain power.” Source B Source: Bradford Plumer, “The Indefensible Electoral College,” Mother Jones, October 8, 2004. “Perhaps most worrying is the prospect of a tie in the electoral vote. In that case, the election would be thrown to the House of Representatives, where state delegations vote on the president. Because each state casts only one vote, the single representative from Wyoming, representing 500,000 voters, would have as much say as the 55 representatives from California, who represent 35 million voters.” Source C Source D Note: The United States has historically had a two-party system. This means that there are only two major political parties which contend for (and almost always win) political office. Some other democracies have multi-party systems, where there are many more parties with a real chance of winning office. Source: Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., “Electoral College Debate. Election 2000: It’s a Mess, But We’ve Been Through It Before,” Time, November 20, 2000. “The abolition of state-by-state, winner-take-all electoral votes would speed the disintegration [falling apart] of the already weakened two-party system. It would encourage single-issue ideologues* and eccentric millionaires to jump into presidential contests. The multiplication of splinter parties** would make it hard for major-party candidates to win popular-vote majorities.” *ideologues: people who blindly support a particular idea or set of ideas **splinter parties: small parties with ideas outside the mainstream Source: George Will, “Cheers for the Electoral College,” The Baltimore Sun, April 19, 1992. “Even when the popular vote margin is wafer-thin, the winner-take-all electoral vote allocation tends to produce a winning margin that looks like national decisiveness. . . (T)he system bolsters the two-party system by discouraging independent candidacies that splinter the electorate. It generates moderate mandates for parties that seek a broad consensus through [alliances] and accommodations.” Source E Questions 1. Claim: Some people believe the Electoral College system undercuts the basic principle of representative government—that one person should have one vote. Which source provides the best evidence for this claim? A. Source A B. Source B C. Source C D. Source D 2. Source A was written by a member of the Cato Institute, an organization that promotes individual liberty and limited government. The origin of Source A most likely suggests that the provided information A. should not be cited in academic or scientific research. B. uses factual information not intended to persuade the reader. C. was intended to be viewed as a set of opinions. D. was poorly researched by the author. 3. In what way would Source C be used in the most effective manner? a. To determine what states have the most strength in presidential elections. b. To determine how many votes each state has in the Electoral College. c. To determine election results of a presidential race. d. To determine representation in the House of Representatives. 4. What about Source E should make the reader question the reliability of the information? A. There are only four elections included in the chart. B. The sources of the data are not specifically identified. C. The data for the presidential elections is incomplete. D. The winner of the popular vote is not the winner of the electoral vote. 5. What statement in Source D most opposes the belief held about the Electoral College in Source B? A. “abolition of... winner-take-all electoral votes would speed the disintegration [falling apart] of the already weakened...system.” B. “generates moderate mandates...that seek a broad consensus.” C. “system bolsters the two-party system.” D. “would make it hard for major party candidates to win popular majorities.” Assume that the information provided in Sources A, B, C, D and E is credible. Complete the following extended response question: Should the Electoral College be abolished? ● Develop a claim in response to the question. ● Cite evidence from the provided sources to support your claim. ● Use your knowledge of government in your response. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ EBAS Graphic Organizer for Writing What is your claim? (Copy from graphic organizer.) Reason and Evidence from Source ____ Explanation: Reason and Evidence from Source ____ Explanation: Restate your claim as a conclusion. Electoral College EBA Graphic Organizer for Writing (supported) What is your claim? (Copy from graphic organizer.) The Electoral College should/should not be abolished because…….. Reason and Evidence from Source A/B/C/D/E Source ____ says the Electoral College should/should not be abolished because…. Explanation (choose one): The text says.... . The source displays… The map illustrates …. Reason and Evidence from Source A/B/C/D/E Source ____ says the Electoral College should/should not be abolished because…. Explanation (choose one): The text says.... The source displays… The map illustrates …. Restate your claim as a conclusion. The electoral college should/should not be abolished because... EBAS Graphic Organizer The Process for Answering an EBA: ● Read the Introduction, evaluate the compelling question - Do you understand what you are being asked? ● Read the Background Information. ● Preview the Questions for the sources. ● Read the Sources - all the way through… ● What claim can you make in response to the question? ● What evidence supports your answer? Highlight, underline, copy it down What question are you answering? Write it in your own words. Sourc e How does each document answer the question? What evidence from the text supports this is the answer? A B C D E Claim Electoral College EBA Graphic Organizer (Supported) The Process for Answering an EBA: ● Read the Introduction, evaluate the question - Do you understand what you are being asked? ● Read the Background Information. ● Read the Sources - all the way through… ● Preview the Questions. ● What claim can you make in response to the question? ● What evidence supports your answer? Highlight, underline, copy it down What question are you answering? Write it in your own words. Should the Electoral College be abolished? Source How does each document answer the question? What evidence from the text supports this is the answer? A Source A says the Electoral College should/should not be abolished. Source A shows… (because it is a quote) B Source B says the Electoral College should/should not be abolished. Source B says… (because it is a quote) C Source C says that the Electoral College should/should not be abolished. Source C demonstrates... (because it is a map) D Source D says that the Electoral College should/should not be abolished. Source D shows…. (because it compares two quotes) E Source E says that the Electoral College should/should not be abolished. Source E shows… (because it is a chart) Claim The electoral college should be abolished because... EBAS Graphic Organizer for Writing What is your claim? (Copy from graphic organizer.) Reason and Evidence from Source ____ Explanation: Reason and Evidence from Source ____ Explanation: Restate your claim as a conclusion.
