The Electoral College as a Critical Tool in Electoral System - Essay Example

A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the president. The state’s entitled allotment of electors equals the number of members in its congressional delegation.

Electoral College has not encouraged political participation by citizens especially since it is inherently undemocratic and gives the small states additional powers to prevent politicians from focusing only on issues that affect the larger states. The fear being without power, politicians would completely ignore small states and focus only on big population centers. The Electoral College favors the smaller states with disproportionate voting power in electing the President and the Vice President. On the other hand, advocates of the system say that this uneven power forces politicians to pay attention to smaller states which would otherwise be ignored. Except in closely fought swing states, voter turnout is largely insignificant due to entrenched political party domination in most states. The Electoral College decreases the advantage a political party might gain from encouraging voter turnout, except in those swing states (Hewson 15).

In conclusion, the Electoral College is a critical tool in the electoral system of America. Even though the Electoral College does not encourage political participation by the citizenry, the electors are an important component of the Electoral College and each vote cast for the President and the Vice President determines the future exercise of power in the country