Political Representation, Democracy, and the Electoral College: An Applied Theoretical Analysis

Political Representation, Democracy, and the Electoral College: An Applied Theoretical Analysis

Presenter(s)

Jordan A. Marsh

Comments

Presentation: 1:20-1:40, Kennedy Union 311

Description

Though a key institution in the United States presidential election, the Electoral College has often been overlooked for close theoretical analysis and even less frequently dissected for a deeper understanding of its consistency with theories of representative democracy. As such, this presentation summarizes a study of the Electoral College through a theoretical lens to ultimately investigate the degree to which it is democratically representative. The first section analyzes the Electoral College through both a historical and a modern contextual lens. The second section of this paper explores various theories of representation, including the works of Pitkin, Rehfeld, Manin, and Mansbridge, among others. The third section scrutinizes the Electoral College’s representative nature through the frameworks of these theorists. Finally, the fourth section brings the representative nature of the Electoral College in conversation with the ideals of representative democracy, making the case that the Electoral College, in its current form, lacks critical aspects of democratic representation.

Publication Date

4-17-2024

Project Designation

Honors Thesis

Primary Advisor

Christopher J. Devine, David J. Watkins

Primary Advisor's Department

Political Science

Keywords

Stander Symposium, College of Arts and Sciences

Institutional Learning Goals

Faith

Political Representation, Democracy, and the Electoral College: An Applied Theoretical Analysis

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