SECURING DEMOCRACY
Why We Have an Electoral College
Edited by Gary L. Gregg II
with an Introduction by Senator Mitch McConnell
List Item No. 308
ISBN: 1-882926-65-x (cloth)
200 pages
List Price: $24.95
Internet Special: $21.21 — 
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The United States Constitution and its Framers are rightly lauded for the way in which the democratic order they created successfully balances the competing demands of order and freedom, justice and individual rights, unity and diversity. But the peculiar mechanism they instituted for selecting presidents—the Electoral College—has been maligned for decades.
Predictably, then, even before the Presidential election of 2000 was resolved, numerous intellectuals, politicians, and journalists were calling for the abolition of the Electoral College. Critics claimed that it was an anachronistic remnant from a less enlightened time. But is the Electoral College really a useless, outmoded, and undemocratic institution? No, argue the writers assembled for this volume. By explaining its role in providing our electoral system with a measure of stability and genuine democracy, this timely volume shows why it would be folly to abolish the Electoral College.
Gary Gregg begins with an outline of the historical origins of the Electoral College, shedding light on the Founders' understanding of federalism, the rule of law, and representative government. Elections expert Andrew Busch outlines the development of the Electoral College from the great crisis following the election of 1800, and he relates the story of the controversial presidential elections of the nineteenth century, which in some ways set the stage for the electoral controversy of 2000.
James Stoner points out how important the Electoral College is to our continuing recognition of the states as something more than administrative units. He also reminds us how important the nexus between the Electoral College and the states has been in the democratization of American politics. Besides serving as an agent of democracy, Paul Rahe explains, the Electoral College has also dampened the candidacies of radical sectional candidates and demagogues. And, as Michael Barone notes, the College serves as a crucial support to our two-party system—without which we might very well become a nation of fractured and radical parties unable to govern.
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan weaves historical details with philosophic nuance as he critiques proposals to abolish the Electoral College. In a similar vein, Michael Uhlmann warns that because the Electoral College plays a critical role in our constitutional order, we endanger that order's coherence if we abolish the College. Walter Berns, perhaps the one man who can claim the title of Dean of Electoral College Scholars, closes the volume by asking us to consider the outputs of our elections as much as we do the inputs. Should we not be concerned that radical changes in the process might well lead to radical changes in the character of the men who would inherit our greatest public trust?
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What They're Saying...
"The individual contributions are, on balance, excellent…"
— Perspectives on Political Science
"Securing Democracy is a slender but intellectually high-powered book designed to bolster an institution that sometimes appears to have no friends....
The most persuasive argument...for preserving the Electoral College is...that it is a great bulwark of the two-party system, which, in turn, has provided the
United States with unparalleled political stability. The contributors to Securing Democracy ...deserve credit for making this argument without regret."
— National Journal
"The essays argue that the current structure of the Electoral College maintains our two-party system, keeps our federal and constitutional procedures intact, and has only failed to produce electoral mandates in four elections since 1804. Essays by Gregg and Andrew Busch (Univ. of Denver) provide a good summary of the origin of the Electoral College and then detail changes made to the procedure by the 12th Amendment and by federal statutes."
— Library Journal, October 1, 2001
Read more reviews...
Contributors Include:
- Michael Barone
- Walter Berns
- Andrew Busch
- Mitch McConnell
- Daniel Patrick Moynihan
- Paul Rahe
- James R. Stoner Jr.
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